Time In A Game
by EstelleDusk
Summary: This is all a game. Fictional. Not Real. And now Riku knows. And the game's almost over. "And so ends my adventure" /1stOCPOV
1. The Beginning Has Never Been So Strange

**AN://**I have decided to try my hand at a "thrown-into-the-game" story. Partly to see how people like it, but mostly because I'm absolutely bored with school and wrote each section when I was supposed to be studying for something or another. (Oops, sorry teacher, but you are boring.) Do forgive me for adding another silly story into the Kingdom Hearts fanfiction archive. Oh yeah, and just because I lost three times today before lunch, to all who understand the reference, you just lost The Game.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.

Chapter 1: The Beginning Has Never Been So Strange

* * *

I've been having these strange thoughts lately. Like is any of this for real or not? …Just kidding!

I suppose I should introduce myself. Name's Althea, but you can call me Ally; everybody else does even though I tell them not to, but right now, I really don't care what you call me. And if you're one of those people that finds significance in the meaning of names; it means healer. I've seen sixteen years and find it all very dull and boring, especially the school part. My hair's a nice, plain, ugly brown color. Wish I had my brothers' blue-black hair though, would've been a whole lot nicer. My eyes are, I guess the color of milk chocolate, or at least I _think _that's what color they are. I'm about five foot four; that's pretty short in my mind seeing as all my classmates are taller than me, well, almost all of them. Anyways, enough about me. I want to talk about something else. Kingdom Hearts. More specifically, the worlds of Kingdom Hearts. And to be even more specific, why I'm currently hiding by clinging onto one of the roofs of the Third District in Traverse Town and watching as the carefree brown-haired blue-eyed keyblade-wielding boy Sora is squashed by one anthropomorphic black dog in green clothes named Goofy and one anthropomorphic white duck with only a blue shirt named Donald Duck.

Yessiree, I'm watching history in the making. I'm watching one of the most important scenes in Kingdom Hearts One. And I've got a front row ticket, too bad I can't tell much of the details since I'm so far away, even with my glasses on and perfectly clean for once. Maybe I should have packed some binoculars when I left the house today. Then again, how was I to know that I'd end up here? Oh look, Guard Armor just made Donald fly for the first time in his life. I'm so tempted to wave to him from my perch, but alas, I can't give away my position until Maleficent is done watching the scene on her scrying stone.

Run, Sora, run! Don't let his spinning attack hit you or the others. Come on, hero boy, don't die. And don't make me waste one of these potions on you guys. The funny thing is, when I suddenly appeared on the rooftop and was about to slide off, what steadied my balance was a well-hidden box of curative substances. Potions, Ethers, Hi-Potions, Mega-Potions, Mega-Ethers, Elixirs, and even Megalixirs. But there's only a few of each kind so I'll have to be sure to use them wisely. Also in the box are a few tiny decorative boxes, large enough to hold a potion or ether. They look awfully like the item boxes players would pick up sometimes from a defeated enemy in the game and it is these boxes that I plan to use to safely throw down curatives to the trio when absolutely needed. And one appears to be needed right now.

I pick up two item boxes and stuff a Potion and Ether in them before tossing them down to the battle just as Donald destroys the last arm with a Fire spell. Goofy dodge rolls away from a stomping foot, the last detached appendage, and Sora is hit on the head with one of the boxes. He rubs his head and opens the box, jumping up as he uses the much needed Potion. He tosses the other box to Donald who uses the enclosed curative joyously. They gang up on the foot and destroy it, quickly switching to the body and quickly running away as it spins around. I think I hear them complain, but that could just be me filling in the relatively soundless battle with their battle quotes from the game.

The Heartless stops in the center and the group charges at it, attacking from all sorts of angles. Then they quickly back away as it shudders and releases its dark purple and blue crystalline heart before disappearing in an array of blue lights. Next they'll talk. Donald and Leon will convince Sora to go with Donald and Goofy. Then when Sora leaves Traverse Town on the Gummi Ship, it should be relatively safe for me to get down. Relatively because I didn't climb up here in the first place and therefore don't know where the footholds and safe spots are located in the walls. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there; for now I'll just watch as Leon walks through the door from the Second District with Yuffie in tow.

Just as the game dictates, Sora listens to Leon and Donald and gives a supposedly goofy smile that makes Donald and Goofy burst out laughing. They talk a little while longer and then the whole group walks through the First District doors. The door slams shut behind them and I carefully stand up using the box as leverage. Quickly deciding I'll need them, I pocket the curatives and start looking for footholds. Murphy's Law of course dictates that when something can go wrong, it will. So it shouldn't be a surprise to me when I suddenly slip and fall into the empty box as it slides down the roof and hits the ground.

"Ow…" I murmur before pulling out one of the Potions and downing it. I smack my lips and try to decide what it tastes like. "Tastes like cherry coke. I thought it was supposed to be bitter." The ache in my back and butt slowly fade away and I stand up again and brush off some imaginary dirt and dust whilst adjusting my glasses. "Hope no one saw that, or heard me yelp, especially that witch, and I've probably just jinxed myself." I look around and wonder if the geography in the game had even a slice of truth in it. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to check; I wander the Third District, comparing the real paths to the video game ones in my mind. It's relatively the same as the game; mainly it's bigger and slightly brighter. I wonder if that means it's not always night here and that it's nearly morning?

There's the secret entrance to Merlin's place. The fire emblem on the door isn't glowing; as expected since Sora's probably only now learning the fire spell and Donald probably didn't have any time to visit Merlin between searching for Leon and squashing Sora and the keyblade. Here's the little walkway alcove, the one that traveled around part of the edge of the district. I remember fighting at least six Heartless every time I entered it in the game. Three at one entrance and three at the other entrance. Oh and here's the exposed electricity wires and rough town map. Over there's the Lady and the Tramp themed fountain, looks exactly the way it did in game if not alittle dimmer because of a burnt out bulb. I wonder if the door to the Small House is open; maybe I could stay there for a little while as I figure out what to do?

I walk straight to the small/vacant house from the game and carefully look into the window. The window is dusty and too hard to see through, so I'm guessing that it really is abandoned, at least for now anyways. As I'm about to check if the door is locked, I can't help a stray thought of mine. Did the dark fay see me in her scrying stone? If she did, did she just pass me off as a silly little girl? Or did the fact that I fell off a roof with little more noise than a short yelp of surprise and a muttered ouch catch her attention? Could she be waiting in this building; the way she waited for Princess Aurora in her old cottage in the Disney version of her story? Whatever, I wanted an adventure, if being jumped by Maleficent is a part of my adventure, then so be it.

I turn the knob to find it locked. I frown and do a quick mental quick of everything I packed into my casual backpack this morning. I recall packing some heavy jewelry wire. The thing is, before I ended up here I was planning on walking over to my friend's house so that I could fix a necklace of hers, so I included my jewelry materials along with my normal daily luggage of: a first aid kit, cash and credit card, phone, water bottle, and journal and pen. I reach into my bag and pull out some wire and cutting pliers. I cut off six inches of wire and stuff the rest and the pliers back into my bag. Carefully observing the type of lock, I bend the wire into a makeshift key and test out my newly discovered lock-picking skills. I know the theory for an old-fashioned lock like this one—you just move all the tumblers out of the way and into their unlock position—but I've never actually tried it out. A few minutes later I hear a single click, but it's not very loud so I check for another tumbler and soon enough find it.

But it's hard to get it into the proper position so I squat there for a while with my ear to the door listening for the other and hopefully last click. I hear a strange noise behind me. Like water rippling through the air. The noise startles me and I accidentally break the lock by jamming the pick into the keyhole and forcing the tumbler into the unlock position. I know that last part since I finally hear it click open and even see it open a teensy bit. I suck on my bottom lip and take a barely noticeable deep breath before slowly turning my head to face the entity behind me. Heheh, it looks like I did jinx myself earlier since I'm staring at a tall black-robed dark fairy that goes by the name of Maleficent. Oh well, time to lie through my teeth.

"Whoa Lady! Could ya not do that? Fer a secon' Ah thou'h' dat noise was one of them Heartless thin's tryin' ta kill me." I say with an accent I'm familiar with while faking relief that she wasn't a Heartless. I see her raise one of her delicate violet eyebrows and I turn back to the door, pretending—though not completely—that that was the object of my focus before she arrived and hoping that she would leave me alone.

"What _are_ you doing child?" She asks walking a little closer.

"Tryin' ta figur' out wha' moron broke ma door an' how they did it. Seems like they stuck sunthin' in da keyhole and jammed it up real goo'." I say examining it closely and sticking a finger into the hole. Please believe me, please believe me, please believe me…

"I see…" She mutters before turning around in the reflection of her I see in the doorknob. But she doesn't walk away yet and so I don't drop my act and I won't until she's far away and I'm convinced that she thinks nothing of me. "I wonder if you could help me child," she starts to say while facing me again.

I stay squatting by the door but I stop in my poking of the door to look at her slightly. "Wha' do ya wan'? An' don' call me child."

"You see, I'm looking for someone of a very curious nature to me. Last I heard of this person, she was hurt since she fell off a roof here in the Third District."

"Fell off a roof in da Thir' Distric'? Lady, Ah thin' yer frien' is dead. Etha da fall killed her or da Heartless 'ere earlier did. Etha way, Ah doubt you'll fin' 'er. Ye'd hafta be immo'tal ta survive that."

"Yes, yes, _you_ would have to be immortal to survive such a fall, _or just have really strong magic reserves_," she muttered the last part, "Did you say there were Heartless here earlier?" She asks suspiciously. Darn it, she suspects me, I can hear it in her voice.

"Yea, some twerp and two animals were figh'in' some Heartless down by the fountain. I vamoosed as soon as Ah heard da figh'in' an' I came back soon as it was quiet. An' now 'ere we are, talkin' lak da best of friends. Now can ya leave?" Drat, I can't keep the accent much longer since I'm getting nervous.

Maleficent stands there still and I suppress a shudder. "Curious. So very… curious." She starts to say. "You speak as if you are one of those mongrels from the ghettos in some worlds." I feel like glaring at her for her metaphor, not all people from the ghettos sound like that, and I should know. She walks a little closer and holds her hand by her chin as the other remains on its spot on her staff. "And yet, I feel as if you know more than you are saying. And that you are watching your words carefully…_very_ carefully." She pauses for a moment to think and then a slow and evil smile crosses her face. "You are the girl that fell from the roof and as you said, you would have to be quite strong to survive such a fall unscathed, even with Potions. Drop the act, my girl, and let us talk like civilized women." She waved one hand around and looked quite smug.

Oh boy, I'm screwed. "Curses. Oh well, what do you want with me?" I stand up straight and proud, my normal stance.

She raises a brow momentarily. "A name, for starters."

She waits expectantly but I refuse. "Sorry ma'am, but I follow the old rules of courtesy in which in one offers their own name before asking for another's." There goes my smart-aleck tone, not so subtly saying that if she wants my name, she'll have to risk saying hers in a public place where there is the chance of running into Sora. And everyone knows that would be bad for her this early into the timeline.

She frowns before speaking again. "I'm Maleficent, now what is yours?"

"Althea." I resist the urge to mock bow but a smirk still appears on my face. Sorry witchy, but I'm in control here.

"Althea, a pleasure to meet you, little witchling." She stops talking there, and I'm pretty sure it's because I couldn't control my confused face when she called me witchling. "What's this? A witch that doesn't know who she is? That makes you even more interesting." She's back to smug.

"I'm not a witch. The closest I've ever come to being a witch is that I'm the great-granddaughter of a dead gypsy king. But that doesn't mean anything, it's just stereotype that gypsies are witches." I frown, trying to make sense of the term.

"A stereotype that might as well be true. True gypsy blood makes simple humans into witches and warlocks." She counters.

"But my dad's not a warlock, he sometimes claims it but it's obvious that he only wishes it. And my brothers aren't warlocks either. I'd know it." I say desperately. Back home, real witches aren't taken to kindly and most people don't believe they exist anyways.

"I'm hearing nothing of any aunts, uncles, or grandparents, could you not know if they are? And how would you know in the first place; would some _disembodied_ _voice_ tell you these things? The magic gene in the gypsy blood is known to skip most members of a family, only being in the children with the most potential." I stay silent, too confused to say anything else. She's cornered me figuratively. I become even more confused when her smug smile becomes a kind one. A kind smile on the dark fairy's face! I must be dreaming. "Come with me Althea. You may not know it, but it is a common practice among magical-folk to take in any unapprenticed magic-users. It's obvious you don't have a teacher; that was the reason I came looking for you in the first place. I am a very powerful witch and as I was scrying the area I saw you fall from the roof and do nothing but shake off whatever pain you might have felt, it was also hard to not notice the untamed magic you hold. I originally thought you were an unruly student and was going to take you back to your tutor. But now..."

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	2. Shouldn't He Be Here By Now?

**AN:// **Alright, it seems like I did something right to attract your attention. Here's to hoping I keep your attention. *raises tea glass in a toast gesture* If you guys and girls reading this ever have an idea for my story, don't be shy to share, I may end up using your idea and then I would fully credit you for your genius and bang my head on a wall or desk (whatever's closest) asking myself why I didn't think of that.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.

Chapter 2: Shouldn't He Be Here By Now?

* * *

I blink, not sure what to make of this. Okay, deep breath and review. I'm a teenage girl that somehow ended up in the video game Kingdom Hearts, which is the dream of many fans. I found a box of curatives. I saw Sora, Donald and Goofy fight Guard Armor. I fell off a roof on the Third District. It barely hurt. I wandered the Third District comparing it to the video game. As I was trying to break into the small house I was ambushed by Maleficent. She partially fell for my cluelessness and fake accent. I was caught and we introduced ourselves. She called me a "witchling" which started a small argument of me claiming I wasn't. She wins said argument and then smiles kindly and offers me a place to crash.

Did I take anything this morning? A quick mental check says no. Am I dreaming? A quick pinch and bite of the cheek say no. Am I dead? Upon remembering that the dead have no brain activity I'm forced to say no. Back to my current predicament, what do I say to her? Do I say yes and have her teach me until Sora offs her or do I say no and stay by my lonesome self in a world I, in reality, know nothing about? Say yes and meet up with Riku or say no and possibly meet up with Sora? Knowledge from books or knowledge from the worlds themselves? Decisions, decisions. Isn't there a way I could do both? Actually, there isn't one so I'll have to choose. And choose fast if my timing is correct.

"Will I have to call you Mistress?" I ask curiously, stalling for time.

"That is the normal address, yes." She replies testily. I back up a bit and put up my hands, mentally saying, _okay, okay, don't get your panties in a bunch_.

Then I cross my arms and tilt my head up. I stroke my chin and just think. Take the offer, don't take the offer. Take the offer, don't take the offer. I nod a bit to myself and look back at the fairy witch. I hold out a hand, palm down. "A pleasure to be your apprentice Mistress," I say and her eyes light up a little bit before she too starts to extend her hand, then I pull back my hand, "But first I'll need a weapon."

She bites back a groan. "Very well. Hold out your hand and focus on the energies of your heart." I raise my eyebrows in disbelief but at her pointed look, I close my eyes and meditate on my very heart. With every inhale I go deeper into my mind until I find my heart. Then I grasp it and focus on the light and dark energies surrounding it. The energies start to flow off and slowly form a shape. Darkness forms the hilt and the cutting edge of the blade. Light forms little cuts in the blade itself, making it seem like a chain of sorts; it also forms the connecting force between each piece of the blade. I find myself releasing my heart and grasping the sword.

I open my eyes and gaze at my new weapon. It's a snake sword; a sword that can partly come apart and be used as a whip. I hold it up and examine it carefully. I think for a moment and then will my blade to turn into its whip form. It immediately slackens and becomes many inch-long sections connected by something flexible and durable. "I shall call you _Night's Edge_." I say after a moment of thought.

"That's a very good name and all, but do we have an accord? I am your teacher and you are my apprentice in magic? Whatever I need done, you shall do?" Maleficent says impatiently holding out her hand, palm up. A sign of peace or submission I think I read in a book once. I inwardly smirk at that and then grasp her outstretched hand.

"We have an accord Mistress." I say with a tiny grin which she returns for some strange obscene reason. I feel a slight burning on my eyes and I lightly shake my head, immediately hearing a soft jingle coming from my ears. Strange, I don't remember putting on earrings this morning.

"Good, good. Now we should be heading back to my base of opertions, Hollow Bastion. It is nearly morning." She releases my hand and gestures to her side where a portal made of purplish black material appears with a strange rippling noise, like water in air I think I said before.

There's just one difference this time. I notice a strange scent and scrunch up my nostrils in automatic response to it. It's like... heat, but not burning. And it's a little sweet, like cookies, but more like cookies made with sour milk and rotten eggs. The scent leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I subtly look around for the source. As soon as I pinpoint the odor as the portal, I realize a similar but fouler scent lies on Maleficent and the center of the square, which was where Guard Armor stood most of the time it was battling Sora, Donald and Goofy.

I hide my discomfort at the smell as Maleficent and I walk through the portal. Best not to tell her now that I can possibly smell the Darkness. At least, that's what I'm assuming the smell is, could always be something else.

The walk through the portal is strange to say the least. The walls feel like they are closing in on you since they're so dark and unseen. The feeling makes me want to stick close to Maleficent just because she's lighter than the darkness in here. Heh, an unexpected fact.

Once through the portal, sunshine hits my eyes and blinds me for a moment. I immediately bring my arms up to my eyes and pathetically shield them with my fully-gloved hands. Wait, gloved hands? Since when did I wear gloves that still had the fingers? And I don't even remember putting on gloves this morning. I glance down at my attire, for some reason only now realizing that I'm not wearing my normal clothes.

Well, at least they aren't just a girl version of any of the guy's clothes. Black baggy pants with red highlighting every pocket; and there appears to be two…four…six…seven pockets. What do I need with so many pockets? Oh yeah, to hold potions and stuff since they're probably made of etherspace on the inside. My shirt is half violet, half black for some reason and is long-sleeved. Thank goodness whatever being decided to change my clothes followed my simple rule of always having something to cover my shoulders and arms. There's one belt around my waist, not the usual large multitude of belts every male Square Enix character didn't seem to be able to do without until Disney stepped in, then it became buckles that they would die without.

I grin a little at my new leather clothes and I almost don't hear Maleficent. "What?" I ask startled.

She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. "I _said_ that I wondered what delinquent we have on our doorstep now." I finally realize that we're at the Rising Falls area of Hollow Bastion, which I might add is a whole lot more impressive than in the game. I squint through the glare of sunshine over in the direction Maleficent is looking but I don't really need to look, I've seen the Final Mix cutscenes enough times. Whoever has played the game and can't recognize the figure needs to play it over again. He's taller than me when standing with slightly spiked and relatively straight silver shoulder-length hair and blue-green eyes, clad in blue pants and a black and yellow sleeveless muscle shirt. Currently though, he's lying down awkwardly on a lower floating platform, knocked unconcious.

"Hmm, just a boy, I'll send the Heartless to take care of him. Come Althea." Maleficent turns around to go into the castle, but I panic. She's supposed to take him in, as a ward of some sort. He's not supposed to die before everything even happens.

"What will these Heartless do to the boy Mistress?" I ask making my voice very innocent and curious.

"Why kill him of course. They are creatures of Darkness and as such will try to extinguish all Light." She turns back to me and sees that I'm slowly making my way to him. "Althea, where are you going? Come back here this instant you little Witchling."

"I would love to Mistress, but perhaps you should widen your senses. The scent of Darkness, one very similar to your own, hangs around him. I could smell it from where you stand, shouldn't you smell it too? Or are your senses too dulled from soaking in your own Darkness for so long? Besides, he could do the stuff you would have me do that I can't, which is mainly physical stuff." I'm rambling. I know I am. But at least my rambling always has a bit of sense to it.

That really seems to be playing in my favor right now since the fairy isn't coming after me to stop me. That's good news. But he should have been awake by now according to the game. That's bad news. I'm one platform away from him now and I think I now know why he isn't awake. His fair hair has a nice big splotch of crimson red in it. He's hurt himself somehow on the way here and probably has a concussion... or a contusion. I never could remember what the difference was in First Aid class last year.

I jump onto his platform and examine his head as much as I can without moving it too much. "He's a little banged up," I call out to the dark fay. "But I think he'll be alright in a little while as long as he gets an Elixer or a couple Hi-Potions. Not sure when he'll wake up though, but at least moving him won't do him any harm." I continue as I check for broken or torn or fractured anything. Deeming him alright except for his head, I prop him up and dig out an Elixer. I pop off the top, mutter cheers, and try feeding it to him but it only dribbles down the side off his mouth.

I continue trying until I finally look up at my master with an annoyed and waiting expression. She surprisingly shrugs and says I should force-feed him. I blush before taking a swig, plugging his nose and forcing the curative down his throat. I do this until the whole bottle is empty, then I mutter. "Geez, my first kiss goes to saving a stranger's rear, Life _sure_ does _love_ little ol' me. Not." I wipe off my mouth and check his head again. I can't feel the wound from earlier but it is hard to tell since his hair is still soaked in blood. So I instead check his vital signs.

They're fine so I start trying to lift him up. I can't even lift him without nearly falling myself. Geez, what do they feed their kids on those islands? I look towards my teacher with determined eyes. I don't expect any help from her, so imagine my surprise when she waves her hand and summons a Wyvern Heartless that she orders to aid me however I see fit. I gently lay him on the flying pinkish-brown Heartless and instruct it to follow me closely and slowly.

Completely ignoring Maleficent for the time being, I guide the draconic Heartless up to the highest platform, the one with the crystal-powered elevator. I end up biting my lip and looking between the elevator that the witch has made herself comfortable in and the Wyvern. Taking him off and carrying him in the elevator or riding with him on the creature's back; which is the safest choice? I take the islander boy off his living stretcher and carry him into the elevator, directing the Heartless to wait for me at the castle.

Once at the top, he immediately goes back on the dark creature's back and the draconic creature is told is follow me slowly and carefully. I notice the fairy walking through the open entrance doors and I follow. She leads us through hallways until we enter a library. I stop the Heartless in confusion. Two pairs of eyes watch Maleficent walk over to a bookshelf and pull on a blue book whose title reads, Decorating Dungeons For Dummies. I tilt my head in amusement of the name and scratch the Wyvern behind an unseen ear.

The shelf moves out of the way and reveals a small hallway that the four of us enter. There's two wooden doors in the semi-dark hallway. Semi-dark, because it is actually a well-lit hallway, though lit with red light instead of white or yellow and also because the smell I'm now beginning to associate with Darkness isn't as strong here as it was everywhere else I've been so far in the castle. I guess not many people has been in here since the fall of the world.

"The door on the left leads to your bathroom, the door on the right, to your bedroom." Maleficent starts saying. "You have saved the boy, so he is your responsibility. He will have to work to earn his keep and unless I can find proper use of him, I wash my hands of him." Maleficent turns to me then, waiting for me to acknowledge her words. Without thinking, I nod, just wanting to make sure he doesn't end up dead before he even realizes that he's alone. "When he awakens, you will have half an hour before your first lesson. Make good use of your time, Witchling."

She walks away, leaving me as the only concious human in a group consisting of a Heartless, an islander, and a girl with absolutely no clue what she's doing here. When the witch leaves, the shelf covers the entrance again and I'm left in dim red light. I open the left door and fill up the sink with water and a white washcloth. I pull who I know to be Riku off of the Heartless's back and send the Wyvern off near the entrance of my little suite to stand guard. I half-drag, half-carry him into the bathroom and prop him up against a wall. Then I go back to the hallway and enter the other room, looking for a chair.

After looking what seems like everywhere for a chair I could easily take out of the room, I turn defeated towards the door and see such a chair. I groan in aggravation and grab the chair and drag it purposefully into the bathroom. Upon entering the bathroom, I hear a groan that definitely didn't come from me.

"_Ugh_, what's that noise? Why does my head hurt?" He mutters. I stop dead and drop the chair. He quickly looks up and at me at the sudden noise; then he stands up and glares at me. "Who are you? Where am I? What do ya want with me?"

Thankfully, I have some experience with dealing with accusative teenage boys. I place my hands on my hips for effect. "Excuse me? Is that how you thank someone that found you with a bloodied head and fixed you up, out of the kindness of her tiny black heart?" Just attack their pride. "I was _about_ to clean your hair of all that blood, but since you're awake, you can just do it yourself. The shower's right there, and _sorry_, but I don't have a spare change of clothes for you. When you're done just knock on my door and stay away from the dragon-like creature outside. Just try to be in and out, okay? If I'm not there when you come out, just make yourself at home." I leave, closing the door and bringing the chair with me back to my bedroom.

Then it hits me. Just a few minutes ago I agreed to having full responsibility of someone I just saved from the Heartless. And Maleficent never said anything about him getting his own room. That means he'll have to sleep here. And I _really_ don't plan on sleeping on the floor. I groan and collapse on _my_ new bed—mahogany decorated frame with blue bed sheets—and _eagerly_, note the sarcasm, wait for Riku to finish up in the bathroom, hoping that he'll be out before the half hour time limit the dark fay gave me runs out.

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	3. Did I Just MessUp Big Time?

**AN:// **Here's a shout-out to my reviewers and story-alerters. I love you all and you're very encouraging so I decided to tell you all something. There are multiple references to various things and even a hint to the future of this story in here. Kudos to whomever finds the most. I'll even give you a hint. Google anything that seems a little fishy. Also, please check my profile for a possibly useless poll. But it is something for the lazier people to do if they don't want to review.

**Disclaimer****: **I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.

Chapter 3: Did I Just Mess-Up Big Time?

* * *

Just as luck would have it, Maleficent comes to pick me up before he leaves the bathroom. I'm about to follow her out into the library when I hesitate at the doorway. I glance towards the Wyvern Heartless that has yet to leave me. "Mind staying guard over here for me? Don't let anyone pass, but don't hurt the silver-haired human if he tries to leave." I make sure to speak low enough that the fairy can't hear me. Then I jog out of the hallway and into the library, the secret door closes behind me.

Maleficent is waiting at a table not too far away with a large pile of books and papers on the desk. She takes the chair there and gracefully drops herself in it, still holding her tall staff. "So, it appears you have a heart that isn't as black and frozen as mine was at your age. Either that, or you have a soft spot for weak creatures. Your first lesson, convince me to let him stay." She says with an empty voice.

_Oi_ _vey_, I think while taking a deep breath. Before speaking I collect my reasons and thoughts that I had half an hour to gather before. Then I launch into an explanation so confusing, twisting, and logical that I probably would have made the Cheshire Cat proud. Even throwing in how the fair-haired islander would also need a weapon if he didn't already have one.

After my explanation, which was who knows how long, I'm standing there with my fingers double-crossed behind my back. I'm trying not to nibble on my bottom lip, it's a nervous habit and Maleficent would surely know how much I want him to stay here if she sees me doing that. So I just try acting nonchalant, not the dreadfully nervous teenage girl I am. She's silent, thinking about what I said?

"You promise he won't interfere with your studies? And that he'll pull his own weight?" She says carefully, stroking her beardless chin.

I nod. "Yes, Mistress. I vow it on my apprenticeship."

She looks surprised. "You would risk what could be your only chance to learn magic, just so this nameless boy won't die? Why, exactly?" She leans towards me waiting for an answer.

I swallow a bit of nervous spit in my mouth. "I'm not sure Mistress. There's just some sort of... air about him, he seems important somehow." Yeah, definitely important. He's the original Keyblade Master of this generation. Who _knows_ what would happen to Sora and the worlds if he died? Of course, I can't tell her that. When she learns he can wield the keyblade, she'll learn it on her own, no help from me at all.

She stares at me for a few long seconds. Then she leans back into her chair. "Fine. I shall fashion him a weapon when you bring him to me at tomorrow's lesson. For now though, we must determine your elemental leanings and teach you your first six spells that you must master by the end of the week. Please note, that today _is_ Sunday and you have until Saturday. I will test you on your progress at chance occasions so you must always be ready to demonstrate your magical prowess."

I feel my face drop a bit. This is starting to sound like home school; something I'm well knowledgeable of since I was home schooled for the first seven years of my school life, kindergarten through sixth grade. The witch pulls at some of the papers before her and gathers a few of them and a red ink pen. She pushes all of the other papers out of the way and looks at me. "I read the questions, you answer. I'm not repeating anything so you had best hope you hear me the first time."

I nod and she starts reading and marking my answers. "When were you born?"

"August 13."

"What did your homeworld seem to have an abundance of no matter where you were on the world?"

"Hmm...buildings, stone, air, pollution...uh, and clocks. Plenty of clocks." She continues to ask me what seems like the most random of questions. The little _scritch, scratch_ of her pen on the paper started to drive me crazy a few minutes ago. "Last question, do you know what your name means. If so, do you believe it suits you."

I raise an eyebrow and stifle a small chuckle. Didn't I say this already? "I know what it means..." I pause a moment, "meh, I think it suits me well enough."

She mutters something under her breath and starts writing something at the bottom of the page, continuously flipping back to the other pages. After a moment or recording whatever information she received from her questions, she looks up at me.

"This is both very good, and very bad. Your elemental leanings have yet to settle and you could become very adept at most spells if you had started training early in life but you are now sixteen and it doesn't appear as if your magic will settle but will continue changing meaning your element is Change itself, the Mutable element. This leaves me too many spells to choose from to start you on." She goes back to scribbling and muttering, but now it's loud enough that I can hear her. "Perhaps we should start with Time and Space magic, but most students don't start it until they've mostly mastered their element. If only Mab were here, she'd know where to start you. There hasn't been a Mutable element user ever since Mab herself."

She lays down her pen and massages her temples. I interrupt her rumination. "Excuse me Mistress, but did you say Mab? As in Queen Mab of the Fairfolk?"

She glares at me. "Is there any other Mab little witchling? Yes, Queen Mab, my own teacher. She always knew what to do with apprentices. Merlin, Morgaine le Fay, and I were her only apprentices, all of the others never made it past initial training. Then Merlin, that goody two-shoes, had to go and kill her just because she started teaching him the dark arts." Then the witch has a sudden look of realization. "If I recall...Merlin _did_ have a habit of...yes, yes, it could work," she murmurs softly, tapping her chin. Then she looks at me triumphantly. "Althea. You shall learn a transformation spell, the Stop spell, a levitation spell, a cleanliness spell, a transportation spell, and an invisibility spell." I get the feeling I'll be brain dead by the end of the lesson. I repeat, _oi_ _vey_.

"Alright," I say carefully, "which is first?"

At the end of the lesson—which also included an explanation on magic that I'll be explaining to Riku later on if he asks, a short lecture about the worlds and Heartless along with what happens when the Heartless attack them, and she greatly clued me in on her quest for universal domination—I'm lying on my back on the ground of the library, four appendages spread out haphazardly and hair in my face. "Is that all for today?" I say tiredly.

She smirks at me and starts walking away. "Yes. I'll have brunch sent to your room immediately. You did... surprisingly well. For someone never exposed to magic before. But you weren't as good as a fairy student would have been."

When she's almost gone, I call after her. "Well then it's a good thing I'm not a fairy or I would've sucked, huh?" I grin a little. That was fun. I turn my head to the secret passageway. Maybe I could try teleporting there? Nah! I only just learned the spell for it. Guess that means I have to get up. I groan and pull myself up just enough to crawl on wobbly and tired limbs.

I think I'm beginning to see why students had to first master a more normal element. I mean, the only spell I was able to master quickly was the cleaning spell and that still took a while. My head hits something and I pull up my head to see the bookshelf that in actuality leads to my a small suite in the library. I sit on my legs and just stare at the book I'm _supposed_ to reach for and move. I hear a bit of a commotion behind the secret door. I'm guessing Riku is getting acquainted with his first Heartless...unless he saw the ones that tore his islands apart.

There's the encouragement I need to get off my lazy butt. I stand and reach for the book, opening the passageway and entering quickly so that the door would close quickly. I immediately look for a beat up islander and an angry Heartless but I only find a bored Heartless fidgeting. I blink in confusion and then see the door to my room open a bit. The only other human around is sticking out his head and seems as if he's about to ask the Wyvern something when he spots me and turns his attention to me instead.

"Finally! Can you give me some answers now? Your guard isn't very entertaining." He jerks his head towards the dark creature and it...playfully growls. Riku chuckles a bit before opening the door completely. I blink again. Thrice this time. I think he's stolen my Heartless pet. Well, he was never mine to begin with, but I was beginning to get attached. In an effort to get a response from me, he continues talking. "I'm thinking of calling him Sentry, or Sentinel. Yeah, Sentinel."

I walk over to them and scratch...Sentinel's head. "Right... Well, Sentinel, could you not harm whoever is bringing brunch for Riku and me? Whoever it is should be coming soon enough." I turn to Riku and push past him to enter my room. I fall on my bed, hugging a pillow, and Riku leaves the open door to sophisticatedly sit on the black couch with a small look of confusion. I ignore it and face away from the door to better see him.

"Right, well. Answers right? First things first. Name's Althea, Althea Gloxinia, like the flower. You're in Hollow Bastion. Another world. Upon accepting an magic apprenticeship with the present owner of this castle that we're currently in, also named Hollow Bastion, my new mistress Maleficent and I found you wounded, practically on the castle doorstep. I fixed you up and convinced her to let you stay but you have to pull your own weight."

"Wait," he interrupts me. "You said I'm on another world. What happened to my world?"

I bite my lip. "Trust me when I say you'll never be able to go back." I allow a moment of silence for him to figure out what that means. "But, if you have any friends or family you want to find, just to know if they survived and all that jazz, Maleficent's agreed to help you if you help her. She's a witch and I'm her new apprentice, together we could probably find them. Especially if we asked some of her groupies that I've yet to meet to help. I hear they are all magician's in their own right." I trail off at his face. Slightly narrowed eyes and lowered eyebrows. Pursed lips.

"How would you have known if I wanted to find my friends?" He asks suspiciously.

I try playing it off by shrugging and grinning. "A handsome guy like you? If you didn't have anybody you cared a lot about, I'd think there was something wrong, like maybe you're a teenage serial killer. Anyway, if you decide to stay and get her help, there's some things you have to know. According to the witch, you're my responsibility and everything you do will reflect on me. And apparently in her mind, being someone's responsibility means you share food and lodging with that person..." This time I trail off purposefully, waiting for a look of realization. There it goes! Eyebrows raised a bit, eyes wide, mouth open in an 'O' shape.

Good, he's not dumb as well as bad at first impressions. I nod silently. "We'll argue about the sleeping arrangements later. I still have to tell you some things. Tomorrow you'll be coming with me to my magic lesson and you'll receive a weapon if you don't have one already. And I'm now asking your permission to use a newly learned spell on your clothes. They smell... odd." I say referencing the stench of Darkness still clinging to him. If it's still there when the spell is cast, then I'll know it's his personal Darkness and therefore a part of his personal scent. Great, I'm beginning to sound like some sort of animal. "It's a cleanliness spell. I've already used it a number a times and it's perfectly safe." I add when he clutches his shirt in apparent distrust of my abilities. Honestly, I would be too if I were in his position.

"Eh, I think I'll wait until after brunch. It's in the doorway." He gestures with his still wary eyes towards the doorway and I turn to the doorway. There are two black ant-like but child-sized black creatures with large beady yellow eyes standing in the doorway with elegant wooden dining trays. One comes to me and the other goes to Riku. I mutter a thanks out of habit. "What are these guys anyways?" Riku asks curiously while taking his tray.

"Heartless. The dragon is called a Wyvern Heartless and these little guys are Shadow Heartless. A lot of them have that emblem you see on Sentinel. Maleficent's able to control them. I assume she'll teach me how soon enough. Maybe even how to summon them. Maybe you'll learn too, if you prove valuable to her plans. The only reason Sentinel is listening to me is because she told 'im to." The Shadows leave and Sentinel tries to enter through the open door. He gets a little stuck since he tried to fly in, but he un-sticks himself easily enough. I giggle at the sight of him trying to enter the room for whatever reason he has in mind.

Momentarily I wonder when I decided the Heartless was a boy. Riku and I finish our food quickly enough. I accidently spilled a bit of orange juice on me and the dark blue coverlet, but nothing interesting happens. Sentinel finally gets into the room by folding his wings tightly around himself and inching his way in, eventually taking a seat in the corner. I stand up and decide to demonstrate my new spell on myself and the bedsheets. I pull out _Night's Edge_ and remember what Maleficent had said earlier.

"_Mana is someone's magical energy which is how much of their energy that they are able to put into spells which are just a mix of concentration and imagination. Magic can only happen with the right amounts of concentration and imagination. Too much concentration and there is no basis or form for the spell. Too much imagination and there is no place for the spell in the physical world. A medium is used to help concentrate your energy into a single place as you figure out what you want your spell to do. The spell words or magic words are used to help imagine your spell into being."_

Before even attempting to cast the spell, I down an Ether for just in case measurements. I may recover quickly, but that doesn't mean I'll risk my life for a simple cleaning spell. With the Ether, I feel almost hyper and definitely ready to cast a spell. I hold out my medium slash weapon and do as she said. "_Cloths be cleaned!_" I cast the spell on myself and the bed, making sure to mumble my spell clear enough for myself to understand. I mean it sounds dumb. 'Cloths be cleaned?' What am I, an old Victorian manor Lady ordering her slaves around? I should of thought of something cooler...like _Scourgify_.

"See? Not a hint of orange juice, not even a citrus smell. Actually smells more like," I take a sniff of my shirt, "jasmine and hibiscus flowers. But you don't have to smell like flowers since you're a guy." I don't remember adding in a scent change so I'm guessing that's my personal scent.

He looks doubtful. "I'd rather not smell like flowers. Oh and Althea was it? I have a question for you."

I start concentrating again and quickly cast the spell. I walk up to him and sniff lightly, then I grin and step back. The Darkness scent is mostly gone. "See? No flowers, only cinnamon and cedar leaves." _And a faint trace of Darkness_.

He ignores my words. "Aren't you wondering what my name is; I never told you?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, I was planning on letting you decide if you'll stay or not before I ask your name. I take it you'll stay?" I reply nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Really? Then how did you know what my first name is?" He crosses his arms and stares at me.

"W-what?" I stutter nervously and take a step back. When did I call him by his name? I was being so careful.

"You called me by my name when you told Sentinel not to harm whoever was bringing brunch."

Oh, that's when. "Lucky guess! I mean you do _look _like a Riku." I say with a happy grin and small shrug of the shoulders.

"Bull." He calls me out on my little lie. I let a little of my nervousness show by nibbling on my bottom lip and fiddling with my glasses. He sighs and shakes his head lightly. "But I get the feeling you won't tell me how you know. Probably one of your little witchy secrets. As you already somehow know, I'm Riku Ankokutai. And I've decided to stay so I guess I'll have to tell you the names of my friends as well. Sora Uwano and Kairi Shimachou."

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	4. Wonderfully Wondrous Wonderland, WWW

**AN://** Well, I'm assuming you all are liking what I've written and I've just got one question for you. What exactly is it that you like? And thank you for voting in the poll whoever you two people are. I'm now going to _try_ to change your answers from "I'm not sure what to think of it" to "I'm loving it so far." Also, after thinking about a certain review and what I responded with, I've decided to have tiny little one-shots for this story based on funny little prompts from reviewers. But I'm not sure if I should make a whole new story for it or if I should just include them in the chapters at the end. Mind suggesting which should be the case? Oh yes... *pulls out a cake with lit candles for self and anyone else born on May 29 or this week* Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to me. *blows out candles and cuts pieces of cake for everyone.*

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.

Chapter 4: Wonderfully Wondrous Wonderland, WWW

* * *

It's been a couple days since Riku and I were introduced, two to be precise. Riku received his weapon, the famous _Soul Eater _sword, a blade shaped like a demon's wing with a haunting blue eye embedded in the hilt. And after successfully demonstrating half of the spells (cleaning, Stop, and levitation) Maleficent assigned for me to learn by the end of the week, at a surprise test, she assigns me a mission in Wonderland. Capture Alice. Apparently, Pete's job is to find the location of each of the Princesses and he found Alice there yesterday. Upon learning I was going to Wonderland for a mission, Riku demanded to come with me.

I don't have the the heart to refuse him a chance to prove to Maleficent he can help her. It's the only way she'll help him. That's why Riku and I have just exited a dark portal and entered a very strange and colorful world. Really, I didn't expect "the Rabbit's Hole" to be so bright, unrealistic, childish...and distorted. My eyes are shut in a wince and I expect Riku's are as well. I open my mouth to say something downgrading to the world but I'm beaten by a curious, male, cat-like voice.

"Oh my! What have we here? The new generation's very essence of Change. A pleasure to finally meet you my Princess."

My eyes fly open and I look around excitedly for the source of the voice. I know that voice. What fan of Kingdom Hearts or Disney wouldn't know?

"And what's this? The future Grey King? Now what are _you_ doing here? Doesn't your Mistress know that _he's_ here?" And now Riku's joined me in my search. Hey, I'd be curious too if I were just called royalty when I'm not... wait a second, I was called royalty!

I cup my hands around my mouth and call out to the air. "Uh, excuse me, but I'm not a royal!"

"Well, Gypsy Girl, your people created me, so I honor them and yourself as royals." The very familiar voice of the Cheshire Cat sings as he appears in view. First his stripes come, then from the tail the rest of his fur comes in, with his facial features last. And of course his trademark grin is there. "Besides, you _are_ the new Mutable user, and will become _Queen_ soon enough just as your Mistress's Mistress the Fairy Queen became."

I share a strange and confused look with Riku and quickly decide I don't like where this conversation might lead. Especially since he knows about my elemental leaning and heritage. Riku starts walking slowly towards the infamous multiple doors within a door leading to the standard Bizarre Room and I follow just as slowly. "Right, well, Mr. Cat—"

"Please, it's _Cheshire_ Cat, if you don't mind." His pink tail flicks lightly as he holds a paw to his chest.

"Alright, Cheshire Cat. Well I hope—" I start to say but am quickly interrupted again. "_Ow!_" I turn to Riku to see him rubbing his head and placing his hand on an unseen barrier over the multiple doors with a door. I run over to him and place my hand in the same area but my hand goes through. "What in the—?"

"Oh, silly me!" Riku and I turn to see one of the Cheshire Cat's paws on his head and a grin still ever-present on his face. "Did I forget to mention the rules of this world? Pawns aren't allowed to travel within it by normal means unless I allow it and I don't plan on allowing it. Now if Maleficent had had that portal of hers open up in the Queen's Court, your mission would have been so much easier. But it seems as if only the Princess is allowed through right now."

"Hey, I'm not a pawn!" Riku calls out furiously. Really, what person likes being called a pawn?

The purple and pink cat looks down at him from on top of Riku's head. Wait, when did he get there? "Well, you certainly are a pawn of the shadows at the moment, and all thanks to your mistress." The cat grins up at me now.

"I-I-I'm not his mistress!" _In any sense of the word_, I add in my mind. "I'm his...his, uh, accomplice.

"Accomplice indeed. Well, go on through already Accomplice of the Shadows' Pawn. Trial's in session, and you never know what _evidence_ might be found." His voice starts fading. He starts to disappear now. The pink of his swinging tail goes first, the stripes follow soon after, the eyes then after, and the Cheshire Cat's cheshire smile leaves last.

"I don't like him." Riku says once the cat is gone. Then he tries going through the barrier again. Still can't get through. He sighs and backs away. "Well, looks like he was right. Do me a favor and don't tell Witch I didn't do anything on this mission. I still need her help to find Sora and Kairi."

I look at Riku's back sadly. The only reason he thinks Maleficent will help him is because I told him she would. Sure, she'll help him. After she uses him to do her dirty work. I have to do something. "You know, you really don't need her help. And you don't have to go back to the castle again. I just said that stuff to you and her to make sure you had enough time to heal. You can stay here, maybe you'll be lucky and Sora or Kairi would have found a ride here—"

He turns around and interrupts me. "Even if you didn't mean what you said about Maleficent helping me, I've realized that she is the only solid chance I've got. I don't like leaving things up to luck and that's what I'd be doing if I didn't go back with you and this girl we're kidnapping." He laughs humorlessly. "Listen to me, I'm only fifteen and I'm talking about kidnapping a twelve year old girl as easily as if I was talking about a summer storm back on my islands. Just go get her already. I'll hold the fort." He gestures for me to go on through and I sigh while walking through the barrier.

I blink upon entrance to the Bizarre Room and ignore everything but the site of the bottles on the table. I make to grab for one of them, but I hesitate because I can't remember if it was the orange labeled bottle or the blue labeled bottle that would make me shrink. Then I remember the labels were supposed to have diagrams on them. I pick them both up and put back the one that had a diagram of a sapling growing into a tree while taking a sip from the other bottle and quickly putting it back as well as I quickly, in Sora's own words from the game, "grow smaller."

The feeling of shrinking is odd to say the least. It's like every part of you is being pulled inside, like you're being condensed. It doesn't hurt, it's just a curious feeling. I shake my head to get my thoughts back on track. I'm on the table, I notice. I lean over the edge to see how high the drop is. Uhh, that looks to be about five times my height. Yeah, where's that plush chair?

I jump down onto the chair's cushion and jump the rest of the distance. Then I run through the green-arched hole in the wall. I am immediately greeted by a ten of spades card flying at me face first. "_Stop!_" I shriek my spell frantically. Everything around me stops. I glance around at the battle scene. The Queen of Hearts is caught in the middle of yelling something, probably her trademark line. The White Rabbit is cowering behind her chair. Donald and Goofy are locked behind bars, I guess Sora didn't choose the right box. The duck is screeching something at Sora and Goofy is searching his pockets. The card soldiers are scattered about but behind one I see a head of spiky brown hair. I dig through my pockets for some curatives as I dash over to Goofy. I place two Elixirs and a Hi-Potion in his hands and run over to Sora. Quickly I observe what was about to happen. Sora was about to be cleaved in half by the ace of hearts card soldier. I grab the keyblade and move it into a blocking position while moving Sora himself back a bit. I take the card's weapon and position it so that it would miss entirely. Then I move his helmet over his eyes.

I hear a giggle and I look for the source. Guess I didn't stop Time completely, either that or the person is immune to the spell because of one reason or another. The source happens to be a very large bird cage covered in red velvet drapes that is high over the battle scene. The drapes are parted a bit by the person inside and I wave up to the blonde-haired blue-eyed British captive. "Hey! Need some help?" I call out. I see Time start to slowly move again and mutter another Stop spell.

"Yes, but don't you think you should help out that Sora boy when everything unfreezes? Surely that would be the better course of action. Say, why is it that everyone but you and I are frozen?" Thankfully, she doesn't realize I cast the spell.

I walk over to the cage and hop on top of the area where the Queen sits. I mutter another two spells. Stop and levitation. "_Stop. Lift me up._" I start to rise and I clutch onto the cage, immediately stopping my levitation spell. With one hand I reach in my bag for a precut wire that I bend into a key. "The time thing? Oh that happens no matter where I go. I heard from the Cheshire Cat that you were here and decided I should try setting you free and getting you out of here. I didn't expect you to be immune though. Oh well, time to go Miss ...?" I say as the cage door clicks open. I smile proudly at my quickly furthering lock picking skills.

"Alice. Alice Liddel of England." She says in a proper lady-like voice.

I mutter the two spells again and hold out my hand for her to take. "Well Miss Alice, like I said, time to get you outta you here." _And into Maleficent's clutches._ She takes my hand as I let go and push away from the cage and we float down to the ground thanks to a combination of a time spell and levitation spell. I'll have to remember that since I was fully expecting to fall quickly. We reach the ground and run back out the way I came. I lead her over to the chair help her climb up to the table by using the levitation spell again.

Before I climb up myself, I search through my pockets for a vial of blue substance. I find it and down the Ether quickly since I'm tiring from casting seven spells that aren't exactly easy spells. I'm just lucky I have large magic reserves for a newbie. Must be from all that imagining and meditating I've done all my life even before all this. I cast the levitation spell one more and fly up to the table. Actually, it's more of a weightlessness spell that is the opposite of the Gravity spell. But as Hades says, "details, who needs 'em?"

"Okay Miss Alice, do as I say and I'll get you out of here. First, we're gonna drink out of this bottle with the image of a sapling becoming an oak tree. Then we'll run go through that door, meet up with my accomplice and wait for the portal that will take us away from the Queen of Hearts." _And Wonderland and the guys who would've been your saviors._ We both take a sip of the drink and become our normal sizes. Immediately I lead her through the circular door and into the waiting arms of a surprised and confused Riku. They both fall down.

"Oh! I am sorry sir! I didn't mean to fall on you. I just tripped on air, clumsy me. Please, _do_ forgive me." She says as I help the young princess to her feet. I also hold out a hand to Riku but he brushes it aside and gets up by himself. Stubborn dude, I think with a small smile. He's seeming more human and less fictional the more I get to know him. As Alice says her many apologies to Riku's face, he's looking my way and instead of speaking aloud, I mouth my questions to him and he replies the same way.

_Have you called for Maleficent yet?_ I ask.

_Yeah. The stupid cat's voice just dropped by and said you were coming._ He replies.

_What do you think? Is she anything like a princess should be?_ I jerk my head towards the blonde child.

_Well she has the airheadedness down._ He says with a smirk.

I pout, glare, and place my hands on my hips. _That's not at all funny. If I recall, the Cheshire Cat called you a future king, for that you have to be a prince first. If all princesses are airheaded idiots, then all princes are pompous, money-hungry, egotistical, jerkish players._

_He also called you a princess though. And I'd much rather be a pompous, money-hungry, egotistical, jerkish player than a rude, airheaded, loser-face, four-eyed princess._ He crosses his arms and smirks in triumph.

I am about to reply when Alice's voice directly addresses the two of us. "What _are_ you two so busy silently arguing about that you don't see the big purple and black warp hole standing right next to you?"

I look to the side to see a Corridor of Darkness has opened up right next to us without us realizing so. "Nothing Miss Alice. Why don't you go on ahead as he and I finish up things here. Oh, and the portal feels very weird the first time so I'd suggest running through with your eyes closed. Okay, Miss Alice?" I grin at her and gesture towards the portal.

"Oh, very well. I'll see you on the other side Miss... um, it does seem like I never caught your names."

"Our names don't matter. All that matters is that you're away from the Queen of Hearts." I say lightly in a tone I'm sure she recognizes as a polite dismissal since she pouts and runs into the portal with her eyes closed. I turn back to Riku. "I am rude, I admit that, and I do need glasses, and I am at times a bit of a loser, but I won't stand for you calling me airheaded when you're so obviously wrong. After all, would an airhead be as good at persuasion as I am? Would an airhead know how to pick locks? Know how to heal someone who's been cut up? I don't think so, you ungrateful...you ungrateful..." I try thinking of a good word to finish my righteous rant but that smirk of his is distracting me.

"Yes? Ungrateful...what?"

"_Ugh_! Curse you, you messed up my comeback. Let's go." I turn around stiffly and hear him laugh at me as he walks towards the portal.

I mutter angry nonsense under my breath and power walk into the portal with the chuckling islander walking before me slowly and casually. I officially hate Wonderland. Before I ended up here, I could only say I hated Wonderland because it was so bright, cheery, contrary, confusing, and silly. But now I've actually meet two inhabitats of Wonderland and have traversed the confusing and bright world. I have to say I've lost some of the respect I once had for the Cheshire Cat. I grin slightly at the thought of gaining new respect for the Cheshire Cat. Of course, respect has only been lost in dear Miss Alice's case. Really, how could she be so trusting? It's sickeningly sad, but then again, she's a Princess of Heart. It's in their nature to be trusting I guess.

* * *

**AN:// **If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	5. Funny Way To Learn A SpellMeet Somebody

**AN://** Welcome both new and old readers. Welcome to the next chapter of TIAG. And now... *grabs a mike and sings into it* School's out for summer. School's out forever. *puts away mike* Yes, school's out. Bet you think that means I'll update a bit more often, right? Negatory. I plan on updating weekly on either Wednesday or Thursday. Each chapter will be out earliest Wednesday, latest Thursday. Although, if I get that internship during the summer, updates will most likely become biweekly. Running around as a doctor's apprentice in the Big Apple (New York City for any foreigners and Americans that might not know what that means) can be pretty tiring, I heard from my cousin also interning in NYC, and she's lived there all her life. Also, you all heard about 358/2 Days? It came out last weekend in Japan and someone leaked the ROM so now us English/Spanish/Whatever-speaking Americans can play the game like complete fools since half of us won't know what's being said. Furthermore, no one gave me an answer to my question last chapter so I asked my best guy friend and now at the end of this chapter you will find a funny little drabble. If you're still reading this Ersay, there's your earlier thought about Riku back in chapter 2.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways... except for the small embarassing story in the first paragraph since that really did happen to me, I was ten.

Chapter 5: Funny Way To Learn A Spell And Meet Someone

* * *

So the first thing that happens when we get back to the castle is me tripping over air. Of course, the tripping part included me falling and grabbing onto the nearest objects which just happened to include Maleficent's staff and Riku's pants. Now I'm laying here wondering who's more embarrassed. Me for tripping over air, accidentally pantsing my friend, _and_ whacking the back of his legs with the staff. Or Riku for being pantsed and whacked in front of a council of villains. And, he somehow fell on top of me even though I was behind him. Must be my strange accident-prone luck. I remember one time crashing into a parked car from behind when I learned how to ride a bike...this happened when I had already passed by the car.

I'm blushing a lot with my eyes closed in embarrassment for both my sake and his. "Uh, sorry?" Thinking quickly, I decide to stop time to get out of here so I mutter the spell and am about to get up when Riku yells at me. Guess he's immune to Time magic.

"Sorry? Is that all you'll say for embarrassing me in front of all these...people...who aren't...moving. At all. Althea what did you do?" He gets off of me and walks around.

I stay on the floor looking down. "Umm, did you fix your pants yet?" I ask nervously. I hear a shuffling sound and the sound of a clasp and then a muttered 'yeah.' I stand up and look around at the frozen faces of the Hellfire Club. "I just cast a Stop spell so that I could sneak away. I didn't expect for you to be unaffected. Hey, where's Alice?"

"I saw her being dragged away from the room when you tripped. Why?"

_Because I wanted to see exactly what they were going to do to her._ "Just wondering. Now then, here, give this back to Maleficent when time starts again. And don't expect to find me for a while. Later Riku!" I shove the staff into his hands and run away thinking that now is an excellent time to practice that invisibility spell when all I want to do is disappear. He blinks and calls after me but time starts again as soon I leave the room, leaving Riku in a cave of wolves capable of dark magic.

I start muttering the spell as I run through the hallways. "Disappear, disappear, disappear, disappear." I think about disappearing. Slowly fading away from view while still being there. "Disappear, disappear, disappear, disappear." My index of refraction becoming that of glass or water. High enough to be see-through. "Disappear, disappear, disappear, disappear." Wanting to be like undercover spies, ninjas of the night, a being that blends into its surroundings so well that it disappears. Like a chameleon. I get an idea then. Is it really an invisibility spell or is it more of a chameleon spell? With this new thought in mind, I change the spell. "_Chameleon._"

A tingling feeling spreads through my body going from the center of my chest to the tips of my toes and fingers. I look at my hands and see a slight shimmering over them. Since I'm not so sure it worked, I go back to my room to look in the mirror next to the bureau of moth-eaten clothes left-over from the Heartless attack when the world fell. And of course, as soon as I enter my little suite, I look around for Sentinel since he's taken a liking to the area and doesn't leave unless Maleficent is in the area or whenever he's bored because Riku or I aren't around.

He's not here. That's good since he'd probably ruin my cover. I don't know how, but he always knows when I'm around and makes a little screeching noise as a result. I run over to the mirror and grin brightly. I can't see myself. At all. I move my still shimmering arms and try to see their reflection. There's nothing. I play around with my invisible reflection by sticking out my tongue childishly.

I notice the shimmering fading away from my body and my reflection appearing in the mirror. I'm still grinning; but now it's at my earrings. On the first day, they were both the shape and color of the Heartless emblem. Then, they started to smell like pine trees after I learned the cleaning spell. When I learned the weightlessness one, they lost the slight weighty feeling all jewelry has. And when I learned Stop, a small clock charm appeared on the left one. Now they're partially see-through. It's as if they keep track of the spells I learn.

Wait a tick, what's that noise? My grin falls as I turn towards the closed door. I thought I heard a voice from out there. Now I hear footsteps and shuffling noises. And now a tiny little screech that's quickly being muffled by someone. Uh, oh. I mutter the spell again just as the door flies open and I make a small movement as if I'm moving away for just in case measurements. As in just in case I didn't cast the spell quick enough and he saw me disappear.

"Dang it! Look what you did Sentinel, now I don't know where she is." Riku complains to the dragon trying to get inside. Riku's standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. "Well anyways, I'm guessing you just learned the invisibility spell you were telling me about earlier Althea. I just want to talk to you, so how about undoing the spell. Okay?" He looks around for me. "Do you want me to look like a fool talking to his imaginary friend?" He says after a minute. I try thinking of a way to get out of here. I'm sure he's going to yell at me for leaving him alone with Maleficent. _Shudder._

"Well fine, I'll just sit right here and talk to you this way." He plops down on the ground and sits with one leg up and resting an arm on that leg. "I'm not angry at you for leaving me alone with the Hag. If anything I'm grateful."

I wonder if bumping into something and then stopping time as soon as he dashes to the noise will work? But I'd still have to deal with Sentinel and Riku's immune to Time magic so it wouldn't matter anyways.

"The Cat Buffoon came back while we were gone and said he found another Princess in some world. She plans on sending you to get this Snow White girl while she spends a little time teaching me a few tricks so that I won't have to rely on you all the time. She said something about fire."

I think back to the game and the abilities he showed during different parts of the game. His acrobatics seemed a bit better in Monstro than they were on the Islands. And I'm guessing he learned the basic Fire spell pretty early on since he was at the Dark Firaga level at the end of the first game.

"She also asked how we got Alice out of the courtroom when she and her little club had been watching the place the whole time. I told her you stopped Time and had me grab her and run. Then she asked if I recognized anyone in the courtroom. I just said that I was too busy getting in and out before your spell gave out. _Was_ there anyone I should have recognized? Althea, tell me the truth."

I sit where I stand start throwing my voice to his right. A little trick I learned from my father. "Well that depends. Do you know the Queen of Hearts, her Card Soldiers, or the White Rabbit; natives of that world? From what I could tell, there were three foreigners as well. A talking duck and a talking dog that stood on two legs, and they both wore clothes. They were strange, one of them used a shield and the othercast spells. The other foreigner was a human boy... a little younger than you I think. He had brown spiky hair and wore red clothes. He was using some sort of oversized key as his weapon." I throw my voice to a different direction with every sentence and after being annoyed Riku finally sets his gaze immediately before him.

"Brown hair? Did you see his eyes? Can you describe him more clearly?" He quickly asks.

"Uh, blue eyes, like the sky. A bit on the short side. Red knee-length coveralls. A white mini-hoodie. Big yellow clown shoes. Ah! And he had a crown-shaped pendant. You know 'im?"

"Know him?" Riku chuckles. "He's my best friend. Sora Uwano. You said he was using a _key_? Geez, I'm gone for a few days and he becomes an idiot as well as lazy." He thinks for a moment. "That was probably their ship I saw at the top of the hole. They're probably gone by now since it took forever to find you even with Sentinel's help."

"Well that's messed up. I try and get you to leave and it turns out what I said was really true. Small world, er, universe, huh?" I say.

"Yeah, by the way, you've gotta teach me how to do that thing with your voice. Sora's dad did it all the time when we were kids. Oh yeah, in case you didn't notice, you're visible again." I glance at my arms at his words and notice no shimmer.

"So it appears. Now when am I leaving for Snow White's House?"

Two hours later, I'm wandering a forest and tripping every which way, just trying to find the house of the seven dwarves. After receiving another scratch from the brambles in the dark part of the forest, I decide to complain to Maleficent when I get back about teaching me the Cure spell. And lucky me, I don't have anymore Potions, Hi-Potions, or Elixirs. Yay. Please note the sarcasm.

I cut aside some more brambles angrily thinking about how lucky Riku is. I'd much rather be dodging fireballs while learning how to redirect them and create them than be here. _Night's Edge_ gets stuck in a tree when I swing a bit too harshly. I try pulling it out, but apparently it likes tree sap a lot. "Come on, you stupid blade! Come on!" Though knowing I'll just get hurt some more, I place a leg on the tree next to the cut in the bark and pull once more. We all know what happens next according to movies. The sword becomes free and the sudden unbalance of weight throws off my center of gravity thereby causing me to fall backwards and into a previously unseen hole that I would then have to find a way out of. Most of that happens. What doesn't happen is me trying to find a way out of said hole because said hole was a bit of a tunnel and mudslide put together that leads into a small meadow.

Did I mention said meadow is full of bright green grass and colorful flowers and a young girl of about fourteen years in a colorful get-up leaning over my mud-covered form curiously as I stare blankly up at her?

* * *

**AN://** Now for the little drabble, I'll present the prompt and then the drabble.

**Reviewer Prompt:** "Riku in a little maid outfit cleaning the castle and BAM- in comes sora." -Ersay123

_Drabble_ _Start_

"_Grumble, grumble_. 'I'm _sorry_,' she says. 'I don't have spare clothes for you,' she says. Oh, yeah? Well you didn't tell me you had a _spell_ that could _force_ me into an outfit! Stupid witch girl. 'You're my _responsibility_,' she says. Well _thanks_ for not mentioning that meant I had to do _your_ chores, which just _happened_ to include cleaning the _whole_ _freaking_ _castle_!" rants the silver-haired, green-eyed, pretty boy going by the name of Riku.

Currently, instead of his usual attire, he wears everything a straight male teenager such as him such never have to wear even under a dare from his best friend. A black, frilly, female blouse that is extremely tight, so tight it's hard for him to extremely short black skirt, about as long as a mini-mini-skirt and poofy and frilly around the edges and underneath since he's also wearing black, frilly, girl underwear. Over the skirt and blouse combo is a pure white apron. Fishnet, thigh-high stocking showing off his very manly, hairy, and large calves. On his hands are dainty little white gloves and on his head is a black and white maid's hat. In short, he is dressed like a stereotypical XXX-rated French maid. (No offense to any actual French maids out there or to the French.)

He's in the Entrance Hall right now. In his hands is a simple broom and dustpan. Off to the side, next to the staircase, is a mop and bucket of soapy water. Above him flying around in the air on a relatively tame Wyvern Heartless's back is Althea, whom is grinning crazily down at the poor, unfortunate boy. "Sooo, Riku, _darling, _how are you liking the outfit I conjured up for you? Does it fit well? Is it poofy enough? Frilly enough? Tell me what it feels like to wear frilly underwear, I never have myself but I hear it's comfortable, is it?"

"Ignore, ignore, ignore..." Riku mutters under his breath dangerously, absolutely certain he'll snap if he hears the word 'frilly' one more time. He finishes sweeping up a pile of dust and bends over to sweep it onto the pan. He hears the doors to the room slam open and hears a sputtering voice squeak out his name. He turns his head directly behind him to see who's at the door. Upon seeing who it is, he quickly straightens up, stiff as a stick, with a furious blush on face.

"R-R-R-Riku?" the voice squeaks and Althea turns to face the door with a curious expression that quickly turns into a hysterically laughing expression. The face is currently whiter than the screen you are reading this story on—or the words if you have it set in Dark mode. The eyes are as blue as a sapphire sky on tropical islands. The hair as brown and spiky as a porcupine on a bad day. It's Sora. Hero, Protaganist, Keyblade Wielder, you get the idea.

"Uhh, hey Sora...umm, this isn't what it looks like—" Before Riku even gets throuugh the second word, Sora has fainted and fallen onto the ground with a hard _thump_. Two more thumps following soon after. Riku assumes it was the duck and dog that have been known to follow Sora around everywhere as of late. "Althea! I'm gonna murder you! Look what you did to my friend!" Riku immediately screams to the hysterically laughing witch. He throws the dustpan at her but the Heartless flies them out of harm's way. He throws the broom, the mop, and the bucket. All of which Althea and the Wyvern dodge safely.

Riku eventually tears off his hat and starts Dark Firagunning the flying duo with angry accuracy. "I'm going to burn you to a crisp! No, I'll wring your neck, slit your throat, pull off each of your nails, dissect you, eat your innards, drink your blood, and _then_ burn you to a shriveled crisp! All while you're alive!"

"Woah!" I say, jerking out of my nightmare. I shudder at the memory of everything Dream Riku said he'd do to me. Sure, it would be pretty funny to see him in a maid's dress, but I'm not sure risking him doing all of that to me is worth it. Mentally, I note that I should never force him into a dress. Ever. If I want to keep my life that is. Hmm, wonder what would happen if I pulled some sort of prank on him...

_Drabble_ _End_

A slightly different ending line now. If you like it, laugh as Althea did before waking up. If you dont like it, flame it like Riku was going to do to her. If you're lazy, sit there with a dumb look on your face like the cheetah from that demotivator poster.


	6. Snow White's House

**AN:// **Sorry it's running a little late. I got stuck on ideas and was dragged around by my best friend during the past week. Oh well, at least the sunburn didn't last too long and I'm back to my pale, pale skin. *waits for the flame or laugh she was expecting to get last chapter* Guess the drabble wasn't as funny as I thought. Well, enjoy this chapter! *grins widely then her best friend comes in and drags her to a party and she mouths "Save me"*

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.**

Chapter 6: Snow White's House

* * *

"Oh! Hello! Are you alright?" She says in a soft lyrical voice, a bit of a lilt at the end and beginning of her sentence.

"Just _pea_chy."

"You're all filthy." She says making a _tsk_ _tsk_ noise. "That won't do. Come along and you can wash in the tub." She stands straight and starts walking away. She turns back when she notices I'm not following. She grabs my arm and pulls me along. "Come on. We'll have you cleaned up in a jiffy! Get you some clean clothes, some warm food. You'll see."

I just let her pull me along, I'm too annoyed to do much of anything. Besides, I can't call up my own portals yet so I have to call for Maleficent. I'll do that when I can get some time to myself. But right now I'm wondering which story about Snow White is true. Mainly which one about her age. I've heard some say she was ten because of her height and others say fourteen and still others say every age in between. "How old are you?"

She looks back at me. "Not much younger than you I'd say. I turned fourteen last March and I'll marry my Prince in another year and seven months" She sighs happily.

"Your prince?" I say out of shock. So her story has already run through. Well that explains why she's so trusting. Her mother, the Evil Queen or whatever she's called, is already dead and the curse has already been lifted so what reason would she have to not trust somebody, none whatsoever.

"Why, yes. He saved me, just yesterday it seems. But it was really so long ago, according to the outside worlds anyways. On this world, it was only last January. Here we are! The tub's over there, I'll go inside and get you some clean clothes. Don't be too long, it's only another two hours before dark afterall!" She hands me soap, a brush, and a large cloth that I assume is a medieval towel, and gently pushes me towards the tub on the side of the cottage before heading in.

I blink twice in confusion. One, she knows about the other worlds and doesn't seem to care at all for that world order stuff Donald and King Triton babbeled on about. Two, I didn't think it was getting that late that the sun would be setting, especially since the days are longer in the summer. Shrugging off my questions, I take a quick bath and dash inside to pick up the clothes Snow White said she would have ready. She directs me upstairs and leaves the cottage to clean my clothes. I walk up the staircase and am for once very glad that I'm a bit short since I don't need to hunch over in the tiny house to prevent my head from being hit.

I slip on the simple white shirt and beige skirt and the underclothes. I look down the staircase to see if Snow White came in yet. She didn't, so I take my chance knowing that the dwarves will be back after sundown. "Maleficent, I need a portal over here. And it needs to stay hidden until I say so." A moment later, a small violet vortex as large as my head appears before me. I nod and walk downstairs.

Still not seeing the princess, I look out the window and see her holding up my soaked shirt with one hand and holding her other out to it. She's concentrating on something. "_Air!_" She speaks as the gentle breeze suddenly changes direction and blow dries my shirt. She folds it and puts it on a small pile consisting of the rest of my clothes, now dry. She starts to hum as she walks back in and sees me by the window.

"Oh! You saw that? Well, I'm not that good at it yet. I learned it thanks to the War, along with a small cure spell, but I'm sure that Princess Aurora or even Cinderella are better at it than me. Of course, I wouldn't know since I haven't seen them since the end of the War. And the time of my world is a bit, oh, what was that term? A bit, out of sync? Yes, a bit out of sync with the rest of the universe at the moment. Here you go!" She hands me my clothes and goes back to stirring a soup.

"Really, that dreadful Maleficent. If it weren't for her, I'd be married by now. That King Mickey would have never left his wife to learn magic from Master Yen Sid. That Terra would have his friends Aqua and Ventus with him. I bet even Xehanort wouldn't have been evil if it weren't for her. We'd probably even know what happened to Terra if it weren't for her." She fills up a bowl and hands it to me. I stand there looking dumb with my clothes in one hand and a bowl of soup in the other while I'm thinking about everything she's saying. "But enough with all that, the past's the past. We should focus on the here and now. I'm Snow White, who are you?"

I put my soup on the table and take a sip, quickly deciding that whatever it is, it tastes good. "Um, I'm Althea. I'll just go upstairs. Thanks for the hospitality, Snow White." I run up the stairs and change. Instead of going back down, I sit leaning on the wall next to the door and stare at the tiny vortex. What the princess said confused me. From her words, I can only assume that Maleficent had already known that Snow White is a Princess of Heart and that she knew the same of Aurora and Cinderella. Both of whom are already back at the castle. But why would Pete have needed to find them then? Maybe, since the time is apparently ahead in this world, that caused it to disappear in the radars. But that would mean that time flow here is back in sync with the rest of the universe.

The rest of what Snow White said doesn't even make sense. Sure, I've heard of Xehanort, Terra and his friends, and King Mickey becoming Yen Sid's apprentice. But none of that makes sense yet since that game hasn't even come out yet in Japan...unless it came out while I was gone. That would suck. Oh well, at least I have some information on the other game, the Roxas game since it came out before I left my world, er, universe, whatever. So I won't be completely clueless on this universe, just on the past and this apparent War if Snow White's words are anything to go by.

"Althea! Althea, are you done up there? Althea?" The young princess calls up the stairs before climbing them herself. She knocks on the door.

"It's _open_." I answer from my seat on the ground. Triggering the portal to open with my words.

She opens the door a bit. "Althea—oh my!" She gasps and covers her mouth as the door swings completely open. "It's a Corridor of Darkness! Althea, get up, we have to go. Someone dark is targeting this world." She leans down and grabs my arm but I stand on my own and grasp her wrist tightly. "Althea?"

I try to keep my voice even since this really goes against my morals. My father always said that when people treat you with respect or just plain fairly, you should never betray that trust they have in you. "The Heartless are soon to consume this world and I have been ordered to bring you away from here. That portal leads to my employer, she's opened it up for me so that I could return with you in tow."

"But that means your employer is of the dark. Whoever she is, she's evil! Let me go!" Snow White says desperately. I ignore her words and start slowly walking towards the spinning portal. I'm glad I took martial arts, I know exactly where to apply pressure on her wrist to prevent her escape thanks to mostly unknown and untaught pressure point karate. "Please! You're not of the dark, I can sense it, so why are you doing this?"

I raise a hand and brush my hair behind my ears so that she can see my earrings. "Recognize this symbol? It's the one you see on Emblem Heartless." Momentarily I wonder why the forest has been so quiet and I take a wild guess that the Heartless had been roaming the forest since before I arrived. That would explain it. I start to see black puddles around the room. "For them, it means those Heartless were once humans whose Hearts were overrun with Darkness one way or another. For me, it means I'm owned by the Heartless General Maleficent. That's what I get for wanting to see other worlds, huh?"

"But you don't have to do this, you can redirect the portal and take us somewhere else. You can wait for the dwarves to come back and take us to safety! Please, Althea, please." I stop walking just before the portal.

"Sure, I could do that, if I knew how and if someone's life wasn't hanging on a string right now just because I saved him instead of letting him be fed to the Heartless. Really, I'm sorry about this Snow White since it goes against my father's beliefs. Now if you struggle, I'll be forced to knock you unconcious." I walk into the portal with a barely struggling princess in tow. Perhaps she understands what I said... or she's finally realized the pain in her wrist from the way I'm holding it. Either way gets us safe and sound back into the castle.

The entrance to be precise. Which is where Maleficent is training Riku. So it shouldn't surprise me when a green fireball is shot towards Riku who dodges it with his gained agility but the fireball just continues on its course which just so happens to be the spot where the portal let Snow White and me off.

"Bloody--! _Protect!_" I scream the first thing that comes to mind as I cover the princess and close my eyes tightly. Everything goes silent as I expect the fire to be burning me into a nice crispy teenager. Since I don't feel any burn, I peek open my eye a bit before opening them both to see exactly what happened. There's a barrier infront of the princess and myself made out of mostly transparent hexagons that just absorbed the green fireball.

The barrier then falls and I just look between the islander and the witch. "Holy--! What spell was that Mistress? You've got to teach me that someday." I say, barely registering the faces of my fellow teenager and my mentor. Riku has a look of disbelief and awe. Maleficent's facial features are more controlled but her eyebrows are raised, showing her own wonderment.

"It would seem, my dear," the fairy says slowly, "that I don't need to teach you that spell. You just performed a Dark Reflect spell. Entirely on your own without any prior mention of such a spell existing. Unless you've had some prior exposure to said spell."

"Uh, to be completely honest. I played video games a lot back home and the blue mage character used something called Reflect a lot on my character since I was always being targeted by the enemy Paladins." I say somewhat nervously while scratching the back of my head in slight confusion. Dark Reflect? I thought the Reflect spell _was_ Light, at least that's what it says in the wiki. And that looked more like KH2 Riku's Dark Shield. And I thought Snow White just said that I'm not of the dark so why am I able to do a dark spell?

Maleficent taps her chin lightly. "How very...interesting. Well, you have done your job, Althea; and it is getting late. I suppose I can pause our training for dinner, yes Riku?" He gives her a nod and she comes towards Snow White and me. "Splendid! I'll meet you both in the dining room after you've cleaned up and taken care of those burns. Come with me Princess, we have much to talk about." She waves her staff in the princess's face and it glows an eerie green. Her eyes dull and her protesting arms go limp as she nods slowly and follows the witch out of the room.

I turn to Riku with a slightly amused smile. "Burns? Gee, wonder where they come from. Can't have possibly been from the fireballs she was throwing around."

"Shut up! _Fire!_" He blushes angrily and throws his hand out as an orange orb of flame quickly gathers before being thrown in my general direction. I stay exactly where I am knowing he wouldn't actually attack me with his first spell when I'm the one with the curative items. The fireball dissappates next to my foot and I step on the smoldering remains to make sure it doesn't catch fire to anything else.

"Come on, let's fix you up. And you can tell me what happened with you during the time I was in at Snow White's world." I glance around subtly for the library doors and find them opposite of me on the split-level portion of the room. As I cross the room, Riku joins me and we walk through the Library doors.

I lead the way to the suite and Riku starts to talk as we move the book with a very amusing title that I still can't get over.

"As soon as you left Maleficent pulled me aside and took me down to the entrance hall. She said she was going to work on my agility and speed. Then she started throwing fireballs at me. After the first half hour of dodging I got frustrated and somehow redirected the next fireball. Then she allowed me a 5-minute break as I figured out exactly what I did. And somewhere during the next two hours she told me how to do a simple Fire spell. You weren't kidding when you said it was confusing. Trying to cast it caused half of these burns. She also said she'd be telling me how to upgrade it to a Dark Fire spell, and then Dark Fira, and Dark Firaga. So, how did you get all cut up? Did Snow White have bodyguards you had to fight or does she know how to use a knife?"

Riku chuckles a bit as he sits on the armchair while I search the small drawers of the bureau for the Megalixers I know I stashed there. Momentarily I wonder how he knew I got cut up and then I remember that some of them haven't stopped bleeding yet and that I need to sew up the holes where a particularly nasty bramble caught hold of me.

"Oh, nothing really. Just got a little lost in a very dark forest with extremely mean plants and animals. Oh, and the surprising klutz that I am tried to get her sword out of a tree in a very cliché way." I mumble nonchalantly. Sewing kit, not needed yet. Jewelry kit, won't be needed until I figure out how to transport myself to Traverse Town's Synthesis Shop. Synthesis items Sentinel would sometimes bring me, not needed yet. Other items Sentinel brings me when he travels to other worlds as necessary, not needed at all...I think.

"You mean like in the movies?" Riku asks almost cheerily. I nod as I glance in the mirror in time to see him smirk and stiffle a laugh as a cough.

I check the next drawer and immediately find the rest of my curative items. I pull out a Megalixers and let out a small cry of triumph. "_Aha_! Note to self, remember which drawer I keep these in." I turn around to face my islander friend and hold out the tiny golden bottle gently while pulling out the cork. "Who goes first? This is a Megalixer and therefore you only need a sip or two?"

Riku looks at it a little untrustingly. "Ladies first. Tell me if it kills you." He looks off to the side.

I raise my left eyebrow at him questioningly. That seems to happen a lot with us. He doesn't trust something and looks away while I raise my brow. "What? You didn't have these on your islands?" _We don't have them back home either but I still use them._ I take a single sip and my nose twitches in response to the combined smell and taste. I feel the larger cuts close-up and assume the smaller ones did as well. "Vanilla milkshakes and," I tell him the taste and wait a moment so as to tease him for his earlier words, "I'm not dead. So suck it up and drink."

I give the sitting teen the bottle and he swirls the contents around a little before finally sipping it. His nose also twitches. "Vanilla? No, tastes more like...some sort of fruit." He takes another sip when only his newer burns heal then his somewhat older burns heal as well.

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	7. Dinner and a Conversation

**AN://** Quick message to Mister/Miss "...Unknown," she's supposed to be annoying with that accent. Annoying sounding people drive other people away. My friend and I do it all the time when we don't want to talk to certain people that come up to us. And it's actually multiple accents put together. And could you at least acknowledge her name if you're going to flame, really, just try. Other than that, thanks for the review and know that that is the only time she'll ever speak like that unless she's hiding from someone. It's called a nervous habit, everyone has a few of them.

Now that that's over with... Welcome again and thank you for your both good and bad reviews, story alerts, author alerts, and favs, really, thanks! And that mentioned in passing internship, well I didn't get it. What I am getting though is even better, a nice summer with my best friends Kumori-chan, Keiko-chan, Komo-chan, and Kage-kun (please note that these are all codenames so that you can't figure out who I am, and yes, they all HAD to start with a "K.") Here's the next chapter, folks, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.

Chapter 7: Dinner and a Conversation

* * *

We're sitting at the table for dinner. It's large enough to account for Maleficent's club, herself and Riku and myself. It's made out some sort of black marble with green veins. Maleficent sits at the head of the table and I sit to her left with Riku next to me. Pete sits next to Riku, and Oogie Boogie next to Pete. Then to Maleficent's right is Hades, to his right Jafar, then Hook, and finally Ursula. There's one more chair, at the other head of the table, but it's empty and has been since Riku and I arrived. Although, the Heartless working in the kitchen always start setting that seat when everyone but the witch starts leaving for either their homeworld or their dorm in the castle.

Laid out before us all are platters of food ranging from salads and pasta to pork and steaks. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly depending on the way you look at it, there _is_ sushi at the table, crab and dolphin mostly. But I'm not sure if it's dolphin the fish or dolphin the mammal, either way I'm not eating it and will stick with my nice, definitely not a possible resident of Atlantica, bowl of garlic Parmesan angel hair pasta. It's perfectly safe and delicious!

Riku's politely poking at a plate of churassco steak with a side of crab sushi. Bug Bag as Riku and I affectionately call Oogie Boogie has a bowl of something in front of him. All we know is that it's dark purple and green and moving. Ursula's enjoying her sushi and kelp salad. Hades is torching his plate of hot dogs and already well-done t-bone steak so that it has a nice crispy look to it. Jafar, or Turban-head, has a plate full of fruit, grapes mostly. Hook's switched his hook for a fork like in that live-action movie of his that was created somewhere around the late 80s or early 90s. He also has a plate similar to Riku's only he has salad and potatoes as a side instead.

Pete takes the cake, literally. Three-fourths of his dinner consists of cake and the last quarter is a big lamb chop and a few romaine lettuce leaves that he put there as an afterthought while mumbling something about "slimming down." Maleficent, I don't even want to know what it is she's drinking. She has what seems to be a normal dinner that's well-proportioned in the food groups, but she also has a canteen with a glowing blue and gold liquid inside. She always drinks it at meals and sometimes during the rest of the day as well.

If my knowledge of fay lore is correct though, it could be a concoction she made to counteract the effects that iron and most metals have on fairies, elves, pixies, and some other type of magical race. In this case, her, since she's a fairy living in a castle made from metal and marble. Eh, I'm thinking too much after an exhausting day. Okay, calm the mind, just relax, and observe.

Maleficent stares at Riku before speaking to him and breaking the relative silence at the table, also gaining the attention of everyone there. "Riku, hasn't your mother ever told you not to play with your food?"

Riku freezes before speaking slowly. "Sure, hasn't everybody's?"

All of the others at the table suddenly take a look of contemplation. Hook scratches at his chin. Oogie scrunches up his face. Two of Ursula's eight tentacles cross themselves before her. Pete scratches the top of his head. Hades looks up and scratches the side of his head. Jafar looks off to the side.

"Ya know, ma Momma never had to tell me that. She always said I had a nice healthy appetite before giving me some 'ore pork chops." Pete says first. Then the others pipe in their own comments.

"Same with my mother." Ursula laughs loudly before continuing. "She had to tell my sister though. Thin as a flounder, I'll never understand her."

"I've been a pirate for so long I can't even remember my Mummy." Hook mutters a bit sadly.

"_Tch_ same here pirate-man! Only us Nightmares of Halloween Town live a _pret-ty_ long time and don't even have mothers." Oogie Boogie scoffs a bit.

"I live in a desert world. Mother always said I should be happy with whatever food we eat." Jafar says offhandedly.

The group that spoke, including Riku, look towards Hades, Maleficent, and I. Funny, we all sit at one end. Hades puts up his hands, "Hey, hey, don't look at me. Only Zeusie-boy actually had a chance of actually knowing Gaia and he didn't take it." Maleficent rolls her eyes and mutters something about not getting into the conversation.

Then everyone looks at me expectantly. I shrug. "I'm human, and I'm picky about my food. What do you think? Of _course_, the designated chef in the house would tell me that."

"Designated chef?" Riku questions.

I nod. "Yep! Dad's the chef now. Mom died back in oh-one, she was at work and some stuff happened." At Riku's hurried attempt to apologize, I pick up a piece of broccoli and throw it at his face. "No apologies, I've been over it for a long time. I'd probably feel worse if I didn't know people that also lost their folks that day. Now off the somber topics; Oogie, what do you mean 'you Nightmares'?" I look to his corner and pop a forkful of pasta into my mouth.

He looks confused for a moment. "Eh? That's what we're called. Halloween Town is the place where most of the Nightmares live." At my confused look, he starts to give a full explanation of the residents of his world. "Well, you know a bunch of kids dream of the Boogie Man; that's me. Jack's the skeletons in the closets and the creepy Jack O' Lanterns. The Mayor's a two-faced politician that doesn't actually do anything. My minions are Trick Or Treaters, the nightmares of many parents, they actually mean what they say. You don't give 'em a treat and you gonna be tricked. We're the nightmares everybody has and we really only die when absolutely nobody fears us anymore. We're born when new nightmares are created. So one day, Jack pulled us all together and told us what we were called and we've been calling ourselves Nightmares eva since."

"Wow, I never would have guessed I was eating dinner with an old nightmare of mine. You learn something new everyday." I mutter quietly.

Oogie looks away a little uncomfortably. "Yeah well, just don't forget the story. If you ever go to my town, the magic there'll turn you into one of _your _worst nightmares."

I glance at Riku and see his head bowed. He's still slowly pushing the sushi around his plate but now the steak is gone. The rest of the Hellfire Club is finishing up their food as well. I look down at my plate._ Where did my pasta go?_ I think with a deep frown. It was good enough that I'm considering finding a Heartless that can cook and bringing it back to my world, universe, still don't know what to call it.

"My worst nightmare, huh? Anyways, may Riku and I be excused? We were planing on getting up early to train?" I ask the head politely. She nods and dismisses us with a lazy wave. Riku and I stand and leave as more Shadows go to the table to cleanup after us.

We're walking down the hallway, side by side and I have my head tilted away from him in confusion. What was he so nervous about earlier that he would freeze? It was when Maleficent asked him about his mother...oh. I stare straight ahead and put my hands in my pockets. "So, Riku, did something happen to yer mother?"

He stares at the ground and also puts his hands in his pockets. "...Yeah. Was it that obvious?"

"Only after a little thinking. You wanna tell me about it?" I ask gently. I don't want to make him angry or anything since from what I've seen in our sparring sessions against weaker Heartless, he's better at martial arts than I am; and I'm a blackbelt albeit unofficial since I never actually had a _sensei_, but I'm guessing he's third degree or fourth. And he's half a year younger than me.

"I never even knew her. Or my father. They're both dead." We're walking towards the outside now instead of back to the room. It's almost sunset and I've gained the habit of watching it.

"Who raised you then?" I say as Riku pushes open a small door in a wall. It's a secret passage he found on the first day. He explores a lot when he's not training or sleeping.

"Mei Lin. She's my aunt. Well, not really. My mother was adopted into her family when she was found wandering the main island. She was an amnesiac and no one claimed her. She had a good life for someone that wasn't wanted. Mei Lin was one of the richest people on the islands and she and her parents lavished my mother with anything she could ever want." That explains the balcony in the manga.

Once through the passageway, we walk a little more and separate so that we could get a good seat on the stone gargoyles here on the roof. They're surprisingly comfortable and roomy. "Sounds like great luck." I say.

"Yeah. Then she met my father some time later. They never married before they, er, you know. And just before she found out she was pregnant, he died in a storm out at sea that came out of no where. Mei Lin says the pregnancy was hard on my mom. When it was finally time, the doctors had to do a C-section. I was told my mom died soon after from pain and suppressed grief from the death of my dad. Everyone had thought I was a stillborn at first because I wouldn't open my eyes or scream..."He stops talking and stares at the setting sun.

I smile a bit. "But then you proved them wrong. I'm guessing that's why your name is Riku. Earth can endure nearly everything."

He chuckles while running a hand through his hair. "That's what Mei Lin always said when I get hurt badly. Geez, I miss her." He crosses his arms and rests his head and arms on the gargoyle's head. "You know, it's because of what she told me when Kairi came to the islands that I wanted to find other worlds." I make a small sound of interest and he continues. "She said, 'look Riku, another person like your mother, I bet she came from another world too.' When Kairi came, she was also an amnesiac, she only knew her name and how to walk, read, and write."

"Wait, she didn't know how to talk?" I ask astonished.

"Nuh-uh. But once the mayor adopted her and taught her, Kairi became a little chatterbox around Sora and me. Got really annoying after a while."

"Why only you two? Weren't there other kids there? Uh, Pakka, Selphie, and Teduz?"

"Wakka, Selphie and Tidus. And Sora found her on the beach, so she stuck around him, and I'm Sora's best friend. Do the math." He smirks and I get half the mind to throw something at him. Of course, I don't want to risk us falling all the way down and land on the impossibly frozen ice at such cool temperatures. Really, it's a minimum of 42 degrees Fahrenheit, that's about...5 degrees Celsius. Definitely not freezing point in either scale, unless it's not water.

I glare at him. "I get it, thanks." _For killing the conversation._ I swing my legs around while thinking of something new to talk about.

"Aren't you gonna tell me about your friends back home? Common courtesy, as you've told Maleficent." Riku questions, throwing my own words back at me. Maybe I shouldn't have told him about that day... Oh well, too late now.

"I don't think you'd want—" I stop mid-sentence at Riku's look. A bit of a glare and pout all in one but more of an "oh really?" kind of look with his eyebrows raised. "Alright, to start, I only have one best friend back there. But I'm not worried about her, she can take care of herself quite well, as proven when she beat up her ex-boyfriend for cheating on her. I'm only worried about what she told the cops when they arrived."

"What do you mean?" He's confused when he asks this.

I just smile lightly. I hear it's good for tricking people, including yourself. "Well, I was supposed to drop by her house, she knew and my family knew. But it's common for a planned day to get uprooted. So when I didn't show, she probably didn't think much of it until my Dad eventually called her place late in the night after trying my phone countless times and not getting an answer. Then they probably gave me until lunch the next day to come back since I've done that before and I always come back eventually, usually within a full day. Eventually, they would've dropped by the closest police station and filed a missing persons report."

"Why would it matter what she told the cops?"

"Whatever she says will determine how long they actually bother looking for me and how long before I'm pronounced dead. I've had dealings with them before and one of them told me that." I stare into the reddish sunset, momentarily entertaining the thought of an old sailor's code. _Red in the morning, that's a good sailing. Red in the evening, better stay keeping._ Or something like that. The first part meant it was a good day and the last part means it's a bad day...or maybe it was the opposite. I could always ask Riku, he'd probably know

"Then just go. You know your world is still around. Just go back and let them cancel the search. And if you want to come back, you could come better prepared this time." He says eventually, looking into the darkness hovering at the base of the castle.

"What about you?" I glance at him and frown.

"Eh, I'm fine. I'll stay until I get Sora and Kairi, then we'll find a new place to call home."

"...I heard Maleficent say that the Keyblade Master could bring back lost worlds under certain circumstances." Okay, so she's never even mentioned something like that, but I need an excuse for how I know in the first place. "Maybe, once you find Sora and Kairi, you can find this Keyblade Master and ask him to bring back your islands. And if Destiny Islands can't be brought back, you can crash at my place. Of course, we'd need to do some stuff with your hair and Sora's. Nobody back there has hair that spiky or your color." _Unless he or she is cosplaying as either one of you._

Riku laughs. "You got something against my hair? Well what about Kairi? Reddish-brown hair, violet eyes."

"Oh we could pass her off easily, just say she's wearing colored contacts. And your hair, nope nothing against it. But premature grey hair isn't very common, especially at that extreme a level. And even if it were, back on my homeworld, everybody with grey hair dyes their hair. How about black? We could make you a blonde?" I deliberately poke fun at his hair color.

"It's silver, not grey! And no way am I going blonde. If I have to dye my hair, I'll dye it blue." He says in mock anger.

"Blue?" I make a sad face and shake my head slowly. "Nope, sorry, Mr. Garlic, as my friend and I call the Disciplinarian guy at school, he'd drag you down to the office and dye your hair black, blonde, brown, or even make you a carrot top. You could get away with long hair though, even though you're a dude." I mention, thinking of a couple classmates of mine. One guy is a natural brunette and he bleached his hair and then made his hair green, he was trying for blue but it didn't work out very well. Another guy has, had actually since he cut it just before school ended because of his mom yelling at him to do so, had his hair longer than most girls in the school.

"What? What ever happened to free speech and expression?"

"In my school, you only had free speech and expression if you could convince the teachers that you were a little angel."

"Which you did." He smirks.

"Naturally." I return the smirk.

He glances away and to the horizon. "Hey, sun's almost gone."

I look the same way before carefully standing. "Then we better go. Hmm, _lift!_" I say casting the levitation spell on myself and then quickly ambling my way to steady ground, a bit less afraid to fall because of the spell. Then I cast the spell on Riku and he does the same.

We walk through the castle, actually heading to our room this time. I think a moment. It hasn't even been a week and I've already kidnapped helpless girls by taking advantage of their trusting nature. What am I becoming?

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	8. Shopping And Cheesecake

**AN://** To everyone that has bothered to read this story, and review/alert/appreciate it, I apologize for the late update. No, I'm not dead, no I'm not canceling the story. Some... stuff just came up. My brother and my best guy friend (two different people just in case it's not clear) have been kicked out of my school and I've been trying to make sure my mother doesn't send my brother off to Kansas like she said she would and my friend and I have been plotting ways to get him back in the school and if that fails, then to use the favoritism the staff has for me to somehow get back at them. Currently, we're thinking of backup pranks since we already started on the plan to get him back in. And now I'm sure I'm rambling so I'll just shut up and let the story do the talking.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.

Chapter 8: Shopping and Cheesecake

* * *

A little less than two weeks has passed since Wonderland and Snow White's world. And I've yet to learn the name of the latter world, though I guess it doesn't matter much anymore. A day after I took Snow White, the Heartless found the Heart of her world. Apparently, it was behind the mirror her mother used to question daily about the fairest in the land before she died in that terrible storm by falling off of a cliff. At least, that's what I was able to gather when I spoke to Snow White later that day.

Maleficent seems to have decided not to lock away the Princesses into an eternal sleep just yet. There's a hidden dungeon of sorts in the Grand Hall, behind the large silver emblem that isn't a Heartless insignia. It's the one on the front wall of that one-story platform and you have to know it's there to be able to enter...or be dragged through as an unwilling occupant like the Princesses were. She places all the Princesses there and she's charged me with watching them half the time. Riku watches them the other half of the time. Except when we were on that mission to Beast's Castle. We kidnapped Belle, although it was considerably harder since she's older than the both of us and had Beast by her side most of the time. It took us about two days to get her alone and we still had to deal with bruises to our stomachs. She can really pack a punch, that girl.

Whenever Riku and I are gone from the castle, Pete watches the Princesses. And whenever we come back, we receive relieved and yet still slightly hateful looks. There's also a spell cast over the room, no one that enters ages whilst inside. Physically anyways, not even magic can stop mental aging. Speaking of being gone from the castle...

"Riku! I'm going to Traverse Town again, need anything?" I call out. I'm in the bedroom searching through the bureau once more and this time I'm shoving everything synthesis-able (new word I came up with) into my pockets. I also check the stitching of my bag.

About a week ago, precisely a week after I became used to casting a small teleportation spell that could only take me around a single world, Maleficent decided to teach me how to summon the Corridors of Darkness. Upon learning how, I started world-hopping to get to Traverse Town. When I asked around for news of Sora, since Riku asked me to ask on every world, I found out he was on Olympus Coliseum. Because of that, I wandered the town once more and eventually happened upon a large piece of etherspace cloth. Needless to say, I've sewn that into the lining of my bag so that I could buy larger groceries when I'm there for various reasons I usually make up on the spot.

"Yeah, we need more—Sentinel, guys, stop that, I just washed up!" Riku calls from the hallway. Curiosity causes me to stop what I'm doing and look out the doorway to see a very hyper dragon with something dark around his face licking Riku and leaving dark stains in his hair and on his clothes. There are also a few ant-shaped, child-sized shadows jumping around the two. Also with dark stains around their faces. Because of the red lighting in the hallway, I almost would've thought it was blood. Almost. If I didn't see the wrappers on the ground.

I squint a bit and fix my glasses so as to see exactly what it is this time. "More chocolate?" I smirk at him though I know he's too busy to see it. "You know, it's your fault for leaving it laying around where any little Heartless could get their tiny claws on it."

"Not helping Ally!" Riku eventually digs through his pocket and pulls out the last candy bar. The Heartless immediately stop and wait. He moves over to the bookcase without ever turning his back to the dark creatures. He shoves the secret doorway open with one hand... "You want this? Catch!" ...and throws the chocolate through with the other. He immediately closes the gateway after the child-like Heartless.

I laugh and go back to the bureau as he walks into the room. "You don't like kids, do you? I've told you my theory about those three. They were probably some of the younger kids on this world when it fell. Although Sentinel is quite elegant and bookish so maybe he lived in the castle when it wasn't so dreary." I risk a look at the teen in the mirror and barely stifle my laughter. "You look a mess."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, haha, not as bad as you after we got Belle. Would you?" He makes a small gesture to his appearance. I mutter the cleaning spell and do a short wave with my hand. I don't need my weapon for that spell anymore, I could cast it in my sleep if I needed to. Same with levitation and invisibility. "Much better. Now aren't you forgetting about something?"

I think for a moment and mutter the spell again, this time aiming it towards the hallway where there are, were now, wrappers on the floor. "Something _else_?" He questions further.

I swing my backpack on and close the drawers and just plain tidy up the bureau. "Once again, _something _else?" He asks once more.

I turn my head up in thought and am about to say no when the sharp _click, clack_ of Maleficent's heels on the stone floor comes into hearing. We walk into our hallway in time to see her walk through the secret passageway. In the reddish tint of the room, the green orb at the top of her staff somehow retains it's usual coloring. Emerald green glass with a pale mist swirling around the inside of it. "Why don't you make it a little brighter in here? I can barely see anything."

"We prefer it like this..." Riku starts.

"...It's more comfortable."_ And it's scientifically proven to be a better transition light from dark to light so that we won't be blind when we go from our windowless room to the library. _I finish.

She smiles darkly. "I see, do as you please. It is your room, after all. Now then, are we ready?"

My thoughts whir, trying to remember whatever it is that both Maleficent and Riku seem to in agreement of. "Uh, ready...for what again?"

"We were going to reunite young Riku with his dear friend Sora, _if_, the boy will him back. I believe I mentioned that this morning in the meeting." She turns to Riku now. "Your dear friend has seemed to replace you with two fools."

"No, you didn't mention it." Riku frowns at her. After further thought, I realize why I couldn't remember what we were doing today. I was asleep during this morning's meeting. Note to self, try not to fall asleep when listening to the villains talk about their evil plans.

"I didn't?" She fakes surprise. "I could have sworn, hmm, well it doesn't matter now. We really should get going though. Oh, and Althea?" She turns around and opens a Corridor of Darkness.

"Yes, Mistress?" I ask nervously.

"Please refrain from sleeping during meeting or I shall have to punish you." She walks through the portal and waits for Riku and myself on the other side.

"Yes Mistress..." I say in a deadpan voice. Riku walks ahead of me and pats my back real quick with a small laugh, about to say something, but I interrupt him and shove him aside. "Shut it." We walk through and our vision is immediately greeted by a view of overlooking the entire Third District of Traverse Town. I look behind me and see a regular-sized door with a large yellow star emblazoned on it.

"It appears he's not here yet. Witchling, you're free to do as you wish," Maleficent pulls out a green pouch and tosses it me. I miss in catching it and pick it up off the ground. "Just get the groceries while you're at it. The list is inside. And do try to be back within the hour."

"Sure... _teleport!_" I decide to practice single-worldly teleportation and murmur the spell. Unlike the Corridors, this spell doesn't call up a visible portal for the use to walk through and it can't take said user to other worlds, just to places you've been to on the present world you're on. For my teacher, she disappears in green flames and reappears the same way. She'll see one place one second, flames another, and another place another second later. According to everyone that's witnessed me do that, I just fade out and in. From my point of view, the scenery fades out and in.

I appear in the Second District. To be a bit more precise, within an abandoned house in said District. Maleficent says it's for appearances sake, so that no one would realize when she's here. I go out the door and rush to the First District. I walk through the Moogle Shop doors and talk to the little Moogle in charge of the place, the one that usually stands near or on the tables.

"Hey Mog, how are things?" I ask leaning on the table so that I won't be so tall to him.

"Kupo! Althea, things are great, kupo. We finally got the shop running, kupo!" The teddy-bear-like creature with a puffball on top says.

"Really? So I can make something now?" I dig into one of my pockets and pull out some Stones, Shards, and Gems ranging from Bright to Mythril.

"Just give it to Blanc, kupo!" He gestures to the taller Moogle standing by the colorful furnace.

"Kupo, you've really been collecting, kupo! Here's the sheet, just design the item, and we'll make it for you, kupo!" Blanc grabs a sheet from his clipboard and gives it to me while I place the materials on the table next to him. It's an order form.

"Say, Blanc, I'll tell you some juicy gossip if you tell me where I can get everything on this list for a low-price." I pull out the list and give it to him while filling out the form. What type of item? A necklace charm, I'll make the chain myself later.

He looks at the list and thinks before leaping up a bit in excitement. "Kupo, the duck triplets and the building around the corner, kupo! The ducks sell Potions at the lowest price, kupo! What did you hear, kupo, kupo?" Gossip is the currency of Moogles, and unfortunately for the Witch, I'm about to sell her out.

I check off a few more parts of the form and do a rough sketch of what I want it to look like before handing the form back to him. "Well, when I was coming here, I saw this really tall, scary-looking woman. She had green skin and a glowing staff. I think she might have been that witch character you say Hurgy heard Cid talking about." I point to the side where a smaller, female, and slightly pink Moogle is napping in a chair.

Blanc looks over the form and the materials I laid out earlier, picking out the ones he'll need. "Kupo! That's interesting, now you should come back later, kupo! After your shopping, I'll be done then, kupo!"

"Alright, thanks guys." I shove the leftovers back into my bag and leave to finally do that shopping. I go to the item shop run by the duck triplets first and haggle up curatives. _Somebody remind me again why I agreed to be her apprentice. I mean sure, I've learned quite a bit of magic and stuff, but I'm also constantly doing meaningless errands for her. _

Afterwards I go to the building Blanc mentioned, which is surprisingly this world's version of Costco only without membership cards necessary to buy anything but a card, and search through the aisles._ Well, okay, we need food, but why doesn't she just send Riku. She's been treating him differently ever since Snow White's world. Now she's actually trying to keep him in the castle. And she's always checking up on him. Almost like a mother._

I nearly drop a carton of milk at that thought but I catch myself and put in the the cart. "Like a mom... and not only to him..."_ After all, my mom always had me go to the store. _I wheel by the bakery and reach for the last chocolate cheesecake at the same time another hand, slim and pale and with a yellow fingerless glove, reaches for it. Both our hands are on it and I feel my eye begin to twitch. _This is MY cake, mine, back off!_ "Excuse me, but I do believe I saw this first."

"Nuh-uh! I saw it first!" A childish, feminine voice starts to whine. Her hand never leaves the cake and nor does my own. I raise my eyes to see a girl my age, my height, with short cropped black hair and big brown eyes clad in beige short-shorts, a tiny green tank top/tube top/belly shirt, and a scarf. Yuffie Kisaragi, self-proclaimed The Great Ninja Yuffie.

We both initiate a staring contest, wordlessly agreeing that whomever is first to blink or laugh or look away won't be getting the cake. After a full minute, both our eyes start to water but neither of us back down; it's for the cake. Another minute later, I desperately want to blink and decide to cheat a little. I avert my eyes to the center of her face instead directly in her eyes, I also let the focus drop a little. The effects of this happen immediately and my eyes are more relaxed now, but she's still staring, and her eyes aren't as focused. Guess we both know how to cheat in childish games.

"Excuse me," an elderly woman's voice says reaching just beyond us. The teenage ninja and I mutter polite nonsense as we both move out of the way a little to give the woman more room. "Thank you, have a nice day ladies." She says placing a white bakery box in her cart and wheeling away.

_Wait, white bakery box?_ Yuffie and I blink and look towards the cheesecake we were contesting for and find that it is no longer there. "Oh man! That old lady stole my cake!" We both moan and she walks dejectedly away from the bakery while I look for some other delectable chocolate baked good to buy instead. Nothing, oh well, time to go anyways. I pay for everything and carry the bags back to the Synthesis Shop.

I push the door open with my back and pop my head in. "Hey guys. Is it ready Blanc?"

Hurgy is gone, I'm guessing she dropped by Cid's and told him about Maleficent being in town. Mog on the other hand waves at me and remains occupying the chair Hurgy once occupied. Blanc though comes over to the door, speaking in an excited tone and jumping up every now and then with the pendant in hand...paw, eh, never mind. "Kupo, you're back! Kupo! It's really nice, kupo, my best work, kupo!"

I smile at the relatively tall Moogle. "Really? Well, could you put it in my pocket, my hands are kinda full." I nod my head at the bags.

"Kupo, of course! But first look at it! Kupo!" He brandishes the pendant proudly. But I barely get a chance to see it before he unzips the pocket on my lower left leg and drops it in. "Have a nice day, kupo!"

"Yeah, thanks, same to you." I leave the building and cast the invisibility spell on myself as I turn the corner and walk towards the Third District entrance here in the First District. I carefully and slowly push open one of the big doors in time to see Riku leap down from somewhere and destroy a Soldier Heartless that jumped on Sora. So glad I cast that spell earlier, I wouldn't have wanted to interrupt the reunion.

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	9. Decisions and Revelations

**AN://** Alright, this chapter is a bit longer than last and has mind-boggling revelations including but not limited to: the finding of Riku by Sora and Riku deciding who he'll stay with, Maleficent or Sora. Okay, so it doesn't seem like much for a slightly extended chapter, but you'll see.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own--wait, why am I still doing this? Especially since this chapter has *is censored for spoilers*, which I definitely own.

Chapter 9: Decisions and Revelations

* * *

I look around for Maleficent but can't see her anywhere from where I am so I then look for a safe place to watch the action. My eyes then rest on the area near the exposed cables. I dash over there and hide behind the wall to quickly stuff as much as I can into my backpack so that I won't have to carry as much in my hands. Once I'm done with that, I recast the spell, look up to find Maleficent on the little balcony the three of us appeared at earlier, and look over to the little reunion taking place. Lucky me, they walked close to my hiding spot while I was busy and I'm able to hear them perfectly.

"Wait a sec, where's Kai?" The brunette suddenly asks stopping his stride, now realizing his best friend is alone...mostly.

"Isn't she with you?" Riku turns around to face Sora since he was in the lead. His voice is surprised, as if he expected Kairi to be with Sora no matter where their little group went. Sora drops his head and looks away, shuffling his clown-shoe-clad feet. There's a small pause before Riku talks again. He walks to Sora, puts a hand on his shoulder momentarily before continuing his walk past the junior hero trio. Of course, he doesn't know that last bit yet. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure she made it off the island, too. We're finally free. And, hey, she might even be looking for us now." He raises his hands as if calling for something or someone and lifts his head to the sky. "We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this--" _Ping!_

Riku turns around to see Sora still in his after-pose of finishing off a Heartless with a low sweep. Against a human and with a well-sharpened blade, the swing would've cut someone's knees off. Gruesome thought, but it hit a Shadow Heartless, not a human, so it's somehow less gruesome. Then Sora stands properly and faces his childhood friend, leaning on his back foot and resting his Keyblade over his right shoulder. "Leave it ta who?"

"Sora, what did you--" Riku walks closer and has a look of disbelief.

"I've been looking for Kai, and you, too...with these guys' help." The short teen says grinning softly.

"...Who are they?" The taller teen asks curtly, trying not to glare at the anthromorphs.

"_Ahem_. My name is--" The duck starts to say before he's cut off by the current wielder of the key.

"We've visited so many cool places, looking for you two." He dismisses his weapon and takes a step closer to Riku.

"Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed." Riku then looks pointedly directly at me, directly past Sora, and casually touches his arm, rubbing his elbow with his middle finger and pointing towards me with his thumb. I look at him weirdly and then glance at my arm to see the usual shimmering slowly fading away. Oh, he's probably able to barely see me. I mutter the spell again and continue watching.

"Oh, and guess what? Sora's the Keyblade master." Goofy says while lightly shaking Sora's shoulders as they both grin a little.

"Who woulda thought it?" Donald says snidely with his quack-ish accent, walking around the duo and stopping on Sora's left.

"What's that mean!" Sora asks indignantly as he stomps his foot and glares at the duck. Goofy looks at them both and doesn't notice as Riku holds out his hand experimentally.

His face scrunches up a bit and then in a flash of light, the keyblade appears. "So, this is called a Keyblade?" He holds it out delicately, testing the weight.

"Huh? Hey, give it back." Sora jumps for it but Riku leaps back and leaves Sora to nearly fall on his face.

The older teen gives the weapon a few quick test swings. Even though the weight is unfamiliar, he never drops it, almost as if he has held it before and is used to the weapon. Then he tosses it back. "Don't drop it!"

"Whoa." Sora moves forward to catch it properly and then dismisses it once more. He gives a cheeky grin and sticks out his tongue before returning to the conversation. "So, you're coming with us, right? We've got this _awe_some rocket. Wait 'til ya see it!" The younger teen's voice becomes really high-pitched and excited upon mentioning the rocket.

"No, he can't come!" The duck screeches loudly and three occupants of the immediate area glare at him with fire in their eyes, all persons being humans, myself included.

"What?" Sora leans down to glare at Donald better and doesn't notice that Riku is clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

"Don't even think about it!" The stubborn mage continues his argument and Goofy looks down at Sora and Donald.

"Oh, come on! He's my friend, please!" Sora whines. Riku raises his fist halfway to his chest and swipes it to his right sharply while he, looking in my direction, mouths the words "invisible, now." I follow his silent words and turn him invisible. The gesture he did, he's done it before, always when he didn't want to or couldn't say his current thought which usually follows along the lines of "forget this."

"I don't care!" Sora says once more.

Goofy looks back up and can't see the silent and angry silver-haired teen slowly moving towards me. "_Huh_, he's gone."

"Riku?" Sora looks up and sprints for a second, looking around for the missing teen who is currently sulking and trying to ignore Sora. "Nice going. Oh, well. At least he's okay. And who knows? Maybe we'll run into Kairi soon, too. Anyways, we have to tell Cid we delivered the book." Sora shrugs nonchalantly and races Donald and Goofy up the stairs and out of relative earshot. At the top of the stairs, I can see mini-portals opening quickly and I can hear the trio shouting out Fire spells and throwing their weapons at the enemies. Sora throws the Keyblade a bit too far and it lands dead center of the square. "Oops!" It then disappears in a flash of light.

Riku glares at the spot where the Keyblade was a moment ago and makes to run towards the Small House when a door being slammed shut is heard. I grab his shoulder. "Nuh-uh, wait a moment and help me carry these." He glares at me and I glare at him, not releasing his shoulder. He then grabs two bags and I grab the other three. He leads the way to the Small House, all the while muttering about "stupid Sora, stupid dog, stupid duck that should be roasted alive on a spit." He grins evilly at the last one, I'm guessing he doesn't like Donald.

"Donald and Goofy if my sources are correct." I speak up when we reach the top of the stairs.

"Which one's the duck?" He doesn't question my supposed sources, not anymore.

"Donald." I say as I nod in greeting to Maleficent, she just loves appearing in her green flames, as she appears next to Riku. She waves her staff and the orb glows eerily and then the windows that were once dark with black-out curtains suddenly become crystal clear.

Within the building are seven figures, two of which are clothed animals and two of which are girls. Sora, Donald, and Goofy are there, standing around a tall brunette male clothed in leather pants, belts, a white tucked-in shirt, and a leather jacket. The brooding Squall "Leon" Leonhart, about 22, maybe even 23 years of age. Near the bed are the three remaining figures. Leaning on a wall near the bed is a 42-year old blonde man with short hair with goggles on his head and a toothpick in his mouth, clad in a white shirt and blue pants. The Gummi Ship expert Cid Highwind. On the bed sit the two girls; sixteen year old Yuffie and a brunette girl dressed in pink with green eyes the same age, maybe a little older than Leon named Aerith Gainsborough, the Flower Girl.

The whole group is laughing together and Maleficent takes advantage of that. "You see? It's just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he simply _replaced_ you with some new companions. Evidently, he values them far more than he does you. You're better off without that wretched boy." She places a supposedly comforting hand on Riku's shoulder as he continues glaring through the window. "Now think no more of him and come with me. I've helped you find this friend, I can surely help you find your other friend. Destiny brought you to me so that I could help you, would you go against it?"

I look at Maleficent in disbelief. _Destiny? Yeah, right, and I'm the reincarnation of Presley and Einstein put together._ I look at Riku, hoping he'll say he'll take his chances and that he'll walk through that door and join Sora. Then, if Sora asks where he went, he'll say he needed some time to think about it and that he couldn't do that with someone constantly saying he couldn't go with them. _Please, Riku, just walk away from all this. He's your best friend, go with him, please. You're not meant for the Dark...._

"How do you know..." he says slowly, picking over his words. "That he cares for...these guys more?"

"Ah, how simple. If he truly valued you, he would have spent more time looking for you. Wouldn't you do the same for Riku, Witchling?" She answers him while asking me a question she already knows the answer to.

"Well, of course! But--" I say but am interrupted by her.

"Not to mention, that his argument with... what did you say his name was, Althea?"

"Donald Duck according to the Moogles." I grumble knowing she just didn't want to use the more unsavory names she has for the Disney Castle residents.

"Yes, Donald. The boy's argument with him was only half-hearted. All he asked was why you couldn't go with them. He never demanded you did." Maleficent says with an evil smile only I see since Riku's still glaring. I follow his gaze and see he's glaring at Donald mostly and a little at everyone else. He _really _doesn't like the duck.

"...I can't leave finding Kairi up to Sora...she's too important, and he's too careless." Riku turns to Maleficent and me. "I'm in."

Later on, after another boring Villain Meeting during which I was glaring at and annoying a certain strangely pale islander for being a total moron and A Major (gotta love that musical cursing) while Pete was rattling on about worlds that may or may not have one of the last two Princesses of Heart, Maleficent walks up to me once everyone else leaves. "Althea, you're being sent to Agrabah for a week."

"W-what?" I ask uncertainly with wide eyes. "B-but that's a desert world, I don't d-do well in extreme heat. I told you before."

"Yes, but this is your punishment--"

"But I wasn't asleep during the meeting!"

"What happened after that bumbling oaf was done speaking?"

"Umm, didn't Hook say something about a crocodile eating his hand?"

"No, that was last week. Hades mentioned the Keyblade brat. He said he defeated Cerberus in the Phil Cup two days ago. Going to Agrabah is your punishment for neglecting to tell me this when you reported to me that you dropped by Hades's world on your world hopping two days ago." She says as I look away, acting sheepish when I'm really hiding a small smile. Ruining her is surprisingly fun, but I can't do it too often or I won't learn more magic without having to go to one of the wizards on the side of Light, which automatically means that they'll keep all the strong and cool spells to themselves. "Besides, Jafar is a sorcerer and I've ordered him to teach you at least one specific detail pertaining to his world's magic. It's good for you to learn about the different mechanics of magic in the worlds."

"Well, fine, but I'm dragging Riku along!"

"Now why would you feel a need to do that?" She questions, leaning down to my level.

"When I first got here you said he was my responsibility, I can't make sure he doesn't screw up anything if I'm not here so it only seems the best choice to bring him along like I've been doing since day one. Besides, I'm sure he'll love ogling the Arabian girls; he's a teenage boy, it's what many of them do."

For some reason, Maleficent's eyes harden at the mention of Riku ogling girls. "_Hmph_, well he better not bring home any tramps. Riku will marry a sorceress, a witch, someone of great magical prowess. If I am able to, I will even arrange for the daughter of some powerful sorceror of Darkness. Keep a firm eye on him and ensure he doesn't run off anywhere." She says stiffly.

Hold up, rewind. Marry? Since when did she have a say in those types of things? Sure, in the game she claims he's like a son to her, but didn't she just say that to gain a little trust from him? "Uh, no offense, Mistress. But what does Riku's love life matter to you? I mean, he's not your son or anything and you didn't even want him here in the first place. Why the change of heart?"

"It matters. That is all I will say on this matter and you'd best not ask around, you curious girl. Now, go to bed, you leave in the morning." Maleficent is turned away from me and I just walk away thinking about why it would matter who Riku marries. And why she would even be thinking about that stuff now, when he's still in high school. I decide to postpone going to bed and instead check on the Princesses so I teleport to the Grand Hall, just outside the secret entrance, and then walk through.

It's a cool, liquid-y feeling to walk through a wall that's not really there and I can't help but shiver. I call this area a dungeon of sorts for one reason. Each of the ten cells here have three walls of stone and one of bars, appear quite small and dirty at first, but they each have a subtle illusion spell cast on them. Apparently, the previous rulers of this world actually wanted their prisoners that were kept here to be relatively comfortable. Upon entering one of the rooms, it changes to suit the occupants needs and preferences, even expanding the room, and a window appears in the wall opposite of the bars. In the window is a view of each of the Princesses' homes. Each cell, looks like their own room back on their world. Maleficent calls it the Royal Dungeon Suite, I'm inclined to agree with the term.

"Althea, good to see you well." A mature voice says from nearby. I look to my left into the first room. A woman, or a girl, I'm actually not sure since I never asked, all I know is that she's at least 16, the age when she pricked her finger on a spindle, rests on an armchair near the bars, stitching up her dress after all the years of wear and tear to make the time go by. She's clad in a blue dress, matching her eye color and on her golden blonde hair is a matching tiara.

"Princess Aurora, same to you." Since I'm not wearing a skirt, I bow like a steward instead of curtsy like a maid.

"Why do you still do that? We told you and Riku not to when it is only us four." Another voice says from my right. I turn to see another fair-haired and fair-eyed princess. This one clad in a shimmering pale blue-ish silver dress and similar tiara. She hums every now and then and scribbles something down on a paper before her. She too is at least 16, the age she was when she went to her Prince's Ball, and once more, I never bother to ask her age.

"Cinderella, still writing that song? Are the others asleep?" It's easy to talk with these two, they've been in here practically since the fall of Radiant Garden, now called Hollow Bastion, and hold nothing against me. It's because of how long they've been here that I've never asked their age, it's a touchy subject for them since they should be at least 25 according to the spoilers for the prequel game. Cinderella gives me a small smile before scribbling on her paper again.

"Yes, Belle is still angry at you both and cried herself to sleep a few hours ago. Alice and Snow White though drifted off a while ago. They are still young and cannot stay up very late without feeling terrible in the morning." Aurora says calmly.

"...I really am sorry about that." I say ashamed while fidgeting a bit.

"We know, and how could we hold it against you. It was your dream to be in this universe." Aurora starts to say but Cinderella finishes the thought with her famous line and a small laugh.

"And we all know what a dream is, a wish your heart makes while fast asleep."

I smile at them, they can always cheer me up and help me forget most confusing things I learn about. Speaking of confusing things... "Hey, you never told me how you knew I wasn't even from this universe, or why you're so accepting of...you know, what was in my Universe."

"You mean that we are but a game in your Universe?" Cinderella asks innocently. The Princesses and I smile; them at my reluctance to mention the fact, me at the fact that they are more willing to admit it than me. "We are Princesses of Heart and have been kept in a timeless dungeon for the better part of a decade. We have become privileged to the knowledge of other universes and because of our greatly enlightened Hearts, we are able to see through masks that the Forces of this Universe place on certain inhabitants that may need said masks for one reason or another. You mentioned that in the game, an older Riku takes on the appearance of a resident of the Darkness to gain the power necessary to help someone."

Aurora continues the thought. "Darkness, along with Light, Nothingness, and the different forms of Twilight are the Forces that rule this Universe along with multiple other variations. We can accept that we were naught but stories, movies, and games in your Universe because that is simply our way of existing in your Universe. We along with everyone else you thought was simply a story are important for the balance of the Multi-verse but we cannot exist in every Universe exactly as we are. So the Greater Power that created the Multi-verse made us simple story characters in most Universes. Besides, one happens in one Universe doesn't always happen in another Universe."

I try and process everything but feel a little dizzy. My brain's like a computer in the fact that it can hold _a lot_ of information, but that means it can also overload or take a while to understand some concepts. "So...you're saying that in any story, any at all, that a person in my Universe supposedly creates, the characters in them are real, living, breathing beings in other Universes that just live out their daily life and yet somehow are important enough for the balance of all Worlds that a version of them has to exist in all Worlds, no matter how small?" The Princesses nod at my question. "OK, a little more Q&A, now. Who else knows this stuff and would be able to see through this 'mask'?"

"All of the Princesses of Heart." Aurora says. That makes sense, Kairi sees through the Darkness that was covering future Riku when he take the form of Xehanort's Heartless.

"Yen Sid, Merlin, and other wise magicians." Cinderella says this, making some sense since aforementioned wizards are powerful, old, and wise.

"The Cheshire Cat." Aurora again. This also makes sense, the insane are said to understand the world the most and the Cheshire is most certainly not sane.

"And the most powerful mortal users of the Forces that keep this Universe together." They say together. After a moment of thinking on this I'm about to ask a question but Cinderella stops me.

"You don't have to worry about Maleficent knowing. She hasn't mentioned anything to you before now and she isn't the most powerful user of the Darkness. The Black King hasn't been seen since the end of the War. It is he that can see you for who you are, but you do not have to worry about him for he is on the side of good."

"What do you mean Black King? In fact what's the Grey King? The Cheshire Cat mentioned him." I ask quickly, finally someone that knows something.

Aurora and Cinderella exchange looks before Aurora smiles at me and speaks. "You don't have to worry about that, yet. Now, _sleep._"

"Wha-- but I wanna, _yawn_, know. What did you, _yawn_, do?" I say drowsily. I see the smiles on their faces and I know they did something, but I'm just too sleepy. I close my eyes and lie down on the floor. I never realized how comfy stone could be...

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	10. I'd Like A Streetrat And A Genie Please

**AN://** I am really sorry for not updating on the time schedule I said I would a few chapters ago. That's what I get for thinking I could say something like that without thinking of any other responsibilities and possible events that might happen. I've been busy with the real world and unexpected occurrences. I won't lay my troubles on you guys, it wouldn't be fair, so just enjoy the chapter and don't expect weekly updates anymore. And I actually expect this story to be finished soon, I've always considered Agrabah to be a kind of half way point in the game but some people might consider Monstro the halfway point, and others might think it's Hollow Bastion.

******Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.

Chapter 10: I'd Like A Streetrat And A Genie Please

* * *

"Wakey, wakey, Riku! It's morning and you know what my middle name is?" I steal the blankets off of my bed. _Hmph_, I spend the night knocked out in the dungeons for some strange reason that I really can't remember and Riku steals my bed when it was his turn to take the cot Sentinel had found us a while back. Oh well, can't really blame him, I'd do the same.

"Evil!" He cries in protest, blinding reaching for the blankets.

"No, darling, that's my first name. Now get up." I say with a very sarcastic 'darling' and he knows it. I roll my eyes, both in amused annoyance and in an attempt to not stare at Riku. Note to self, never pull blankets away from Riku unless I want to see him in only pajama pants. Which I don't, nuh-uh, not at all. I'm a modest girl which means I will _not _stare at him...nice abs though, and those shoulder muscles. G_eez, he must swim like crazy, uh, no, stop thinking about that stuff Ally_. I shake my head to get rid of the images that started to implant themselves in my mind.

Riku snatches the blankets back from me and wraps himself in a cocoon made from blankets. "Too cold."

"Then you should've slept with a shirt on." I say trying to school my features just in case he decides to glare at me for waking him up.

"I'm from tropical islands, I usually sleep in less." His voice is muffled.

Ah, the perfect chance to tell him about Agrabah! "Too much info, dude. Now then, I'm sure you'll be happy with where we're going then. Pete came in this morning saying there was another place where one of the Princesses could be and it's tropical." _Yeah, tropical, we're going to a desert. _

Riku drops the blankets in a heartbeat. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Meet you at the Chapel."

Exactly two hours and fifteen minutes later finds two teens trying to hide from the heat while a very annoyed vizier stares at them with impatience. The three of them are in the palace. To be more precise, Jafar's private study with it's red-themed walls, hookah, large pillows, and chair.

"You said tropical, you should've said it was a Poseidon-forsaken desert!" Riku says while leaning on the cool wall of the palace in an attempt to cool off.

"I never knew you were religious." I look at him strangely. This is the first even remotely religious statement I've ever heard him say.

"I'm not. A bunch of people back on my islands called this Poseidon guy the god of the seas and I got used to saying it over the years. They even called—_erm_, Zeus, maybe, yeah—Zeus the god of the skies. And, believe it or not, Hades is actually considered a god to people on other worlds besides Olympus, and he's the god of the dead. Weird, huh?" He says conversationaly, knowing it's sometimes better to distract someone when he or she isn't in a place said person doesn't like being.

"As interesting as your conversation is, you two have a job to do. I want you to scout out Agrabah before I start my ingenious plot to become sultan of Agrabah." Jafar says with an evil smile, cutting into our conversation.

"Your plot?" Iago the mischievous red parrot squawks indignantly. "It was my idea for you to marry the Sultan's daughter!"

"I thought only a prince could marry a princess, or a handsome youth that the king, or in this case Sultan, makes an exception for after said youth saves said princess and they fall hopelessly in love with each other. Last I checked, you weren't either, just an advisor so how are you gonna convince this princess to marry you?" I blurt out rudely even though I know I really, really, _really_ shouldn't be rude to a guy who will eventually get his hands on a magic lamp and just might decide that he wants to get back at every person that was rude to him in the past week instead of wishing to become a djinn like he does in every incarnation of his tale. Riku crosses his arms next to me in contemplation, of what, only time can tell...unless a telepath reads his mind and tells the multiverse what he was thinking at this exact moment. Man, I would kill to be a telepath, if only to embarrass him every now and then in front of his friends.

"Ah! That's the beauty of it, my dear!" He pinches my cheek with an insane grin and I back away quickly with a quick draw of my breath, subtly hiding behind Riku. His nails hurt, a lot, and his hand is too hot. Just his touch freaks me out since he just reminded me of a bastard I once stumbled upon a few years back. "I have received word of Cave of Wonders that holds the answer to all my problems. The fabled genie! All I need is someone to retrieve it for me, and you two, shall find me my victim."

"Why can't you just go in and get it yourself?" Riku questions sparing a small look behind him towards me, silently questioning why I'm hiding from the sorcerer. I shake my head quickly, trying to get control of myself.

Said sorcerer rolls his eyes glumly. "Therein lies the problem. My source has said that there is an ancient spell surrounding the Cave. I myself have gone to check it but have found no way in except for this: only 'the diamond in the rough' and his companions may enter until the lamp is removed from its possession. Then any may enter. I need you two to find this rat and when you do, report back to me with his identity." Jafar looks away innocently before suddenly 'remembering' something and turning back to see Riku's and my own glum face at the thought of going outside in this heat. "Oh yes, before I forget, when you come back with the rat's identity I will teach you the Blizzard spell, Alanda. Hurry along now, Alanda, Rizu."

"It's Al_thea _and Ri_ku_." I growl at him and Riku finishes with an insult. "Is the heat getting to you or is your turban on too tight?" We leave the palace and stick to the shadows, looking for this 'diamond in the rough' that every Disney fan knows is Aladdin. I do wonder when Sora's coming though and what would happen if Aladdin went to the Cave of Wonders too early and Sora wound up not being there to fight off the Heartless and pull him out of the quicksand...if that part still happens that is, who. Maybe I should put off finding Aladdin, but then I won't be taught the Blizzard spell and I'm really gonna need to learn that to keep cool in this world. Ooh, I hate decisions like this.

Riku and I continue searching, eventually coming across a scuffle between the palace guards and someone else. Curiosity has both Riku and me putting off our 'job' and watching said scuffle intently from the shadows.

A young man about our age with darkly tanned skin from heritage and constantly being in the sun with messy black hair long enough to get in his eyes every now and then wearing poofy, worn, and patched-up white pants, a dirty purple vest, and an old burgundy fez hat is the subject of our attention and the attention of the guards. Aladdin. And we can't forget his little furry friend clad in matching vest and hat, the monkey Abu.

He's apparently had little Abu retrieve some bread and is now helping the chunky guards get some exercise and burn off the calories gained from those roasted lizards and fruits they had for breakfast. Whenever the guards slow down, Aladdin stops by some of his sympathizers and exchanges small talk with them, especially the ladies. Now he's teaching the guards to walk on hot coals and now how to climb a rope suspended in midair and how to pole-vault properly. The guards fail the last lesson and they all fall into a large pile of manure while Aladdin lands in safety.

He breaks the loaf in half and is about to eat his half, he gave the other to Abu, when he sees two children looking woefully at a skeleton of a fish in a barrel of trash. After a moment, he gets up and gives them the bread and walks away, greedy little Abu doing the same once the guilt set in. I look to Riku and raise my eyebrow curiously and see him do the same. "What do you think?" He says.

"I don't know, maybe. Let's watch a little while longer. Even if he's not the guy we're looking for, he's _very_ entertaining." I say and nod to myself. So that's what we do for the rest of the day and the day after when a girl our age and clad in a heavy brown wool cloak, Princess Jasmine, joins Aladdin after he saved her from an angry merchant with a very amusing display consisting of pretending their pretending to be kin and her pretending to be crazy. Sometime during night on the first day, Riku and I wrote a note and found a brown cloak. We had decided to protect the princess from Jafar since no one should ever be forced to marry someone whom they don't even like. I delivered them both that night and she left the palace before the sun even decided to peek around the horizon.

Two days after arriving in Agrabah, Riku and I are taking advantage of the calm atmosphere and exploring the world. We told Jafar about Aladdin this morning and he finally taught me the Blizzard spell and now we're just waiting for Jafar to execute his plan that Riku and I have partially sabotaged. And Riku and Jafar don't know yet that she's a Princess of Heart but I expect Maleficent to find out by the end of today which of course means Jafar and Riku will be told tomorrow.

"Riku, look! A peddler's selling oil lamps, let's get one." I stop and point at not too far away excitedly. In every world we've been to so far, I've wanted to buy a souvenir, any type of souvenir. But in every world except Wonderland and Traverse Town, it's considered strange for a girl to buy something on her own. Said girl would apparently have to have her father, brother, husband or boyfriend buy it for her—which is entirely unfair if you ask me—so Riku and I have come to pretend we're dating on those worlds whenever I want something and Riku would unwillingly shell out the munny.

"No, I think you've bought enough." He continues walking, not even sparing a glance at the stand.

"Come on, I've always wanted one, for the thrill of it possibly being a djinn's lamp, and now's my chance to fulfill an old dream of mine." I pull on his shirt and stop him in his tracks while sneakily reaching for the munny pouch he keeps at his side.

"If you want it so bad, then wait until Jafar releases the Heartless at dusk and then snatch it in the confusion." He mutters lowly, prying my hand off of him and taking the pouch back without batting an eye.

"But darling," I raise my voice a bit so that the peddler could hear it, "look, that oil lamp's so pretty. I simply must have it." Riku gives me a look upon realizing what I'm doing and is about to speak when the lamp merchant speaks up instead.

"And, uh, which one is the one that has caught your eye, young lady?" He's short with facial hair, clad in blue robes and a white turban, and doesn't look very trustworthy at all. Oh well.

"This one here, look love, it matches your hair." I pick up the silver one and show it to my 'boyfriend' with a large smile on my face.

He rolls his eyes and joins me at the stand knowing he won't be able to get out of it now. He glances at the lamp in my hand momentarily. "It's a bit small, and beat-up."

The merchant is hasty to gain Riku's favor. "Ah, but it is made from silver. A very valuable metal indeed, and in a country where there is sometimes little to be found. It only seems beat-up, because it is really quite old, an antique of the finest degree. Your lady has a fine eye for the truly precious."

Riku glances at the lamp again and sighs before starting the normal and grueling occurrence of haggling over a price. A few minutes later finds Riku and me in a relatively empty place leaning on a wall in the shade. I'm grinning crazily, not at all caring that I've just wasted 1000 munny on a beat-up, small, silver lamp, munny that could've gone to buying at least 20 Potions. Really, the economy difference in Traverse Town and the future renewed Hollow bastion is amazing when you can buy a Potion for anything between 25 and 50 munny in the former world and 100 munny in the latter world. Riku looks at me grumpily, quietly mourning the loss of his munny. Eh, he deserves it for being an idiot back in Traverse Town

"Right, get your pretending over with already. I'd rather not be here when Turban-head sends out the Heartless to take the town. We have less than an hour to get back to Jafar's study." He says tiredly, already annoyed at my change of attitude that came about just because of the nearly non-existent minuscule chance of my randomly bought Arabian lamp having a djinn within it. I stick my tongue out at him childishly and use the bottom of my shirt to rub the lamp.

The moment I start rubbing it with my shirt, a lavender smoke leaks out from it and forms a humanoid shape before me. The smoke disappears, leaving behind a teenage, female, purple-skinned, black Arabian-clothed djinn better known as a genie. She's _reclining _on air with her legs crossed and filing her nails with a green and pink nail-filer. Her face is one of boredom and indifference and her make-up is black lipstick and eyeshadow. "Hello Master and/or Mistress. My name's Amani and I am your jinnīyah." She blows on her nails and inspects them. Deeming them alright, the nail filer poofs away in a purple cloud and she finally turns to us.

I stand there with my eyes slightly open wide in shock and my mouth dropped and am pretty sure Riku is doing the same. Looks like that minuscule chance was actually pretty high. I look to Riku and see his shocked eyes. I turn back to the...jinnīyah? "Uhhhh...you're a...umm..."

"Jinnīyah, female djinn. Now then, girl, you rubbed my lamp so you're my mistress for the duration of the three wishes you now receive. However there are a few rules--"

"I wish that he, Riku Ankokutai, and I, Althea Gloxinia, weren't negatively affected by heat in any way possible whether it be physical, mental, or spiritual effects, especially in temperatures and climates greater than and, or, different from our respective homelands which were both definitely not deserts like this world is!" I cut her off with a very specific wish, just in case she's the type of genie that twists words around.

She's taken a back at the sudden wish. "Er, I have to tell you the rules first."

I roll my eyes. "I don't mean to be rude, but it's very important that this wish be granted, _now!_ I'll listen to your rules later when we aren't tired. Besides, that gives you more time to breathe the fresh air." I say trying to keep my voice even, although I'm pretty sure I sound temperamental.

She blinks and snaps her fingers. "Uh, ok. As you wish it, Mistress. You didn't have to be so specific though." I ignore her voice as a warm feeling spreads through me for a moment before a cool wind blows signifying the coming night. I tuck the lamp into a pocket.

"Come on, we have to get back to the palace." Riku says as he looks around and chooses a direction to walk in once he spots the highest point of the palace. "Ally, couldn't you have added in the cold, since you know, I _hate _the cold?" He says as an afterthought before we both run and Amani floats back to the palace.

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	11. Rules To Proper Wishing 101

**AN://** Is about a month a long time for a 33-hundred plus (3300+) word update? Is sorry good enough? How about my excuse of attending family formal parties, planning birthday parties, being hassled by varying people about school, _attempting_ to read the three books of an average total of 1000 words that I'm supposed to read for my summer reading project, trying to figure out what colleges to apply for, changing my future career idea from joining the National Guard to becoming a surgeon or some kind of doctor to joining the law enforcement to maybe just going with my absolute original idea of becoming a CSI agent or detective, being depressed, comforting other friends who have also been sad lately, worrying about what Kage-kun will do now that he knows how I feel about him thanks to Kumori-chan telling him he was one of the reasons I was depressed. -.- *sighs* Teenage love, a hassle no matter who you are or what you say... and make that a 37-hundred plus word update. Apparently I can rant a 400 word essay in a single author's note with Disclaimer, Endling Line, and Chapter Intro included.

**Note to "anonymous" (this isn't a bad note):** I wish I could answer your questions without everyone else learning some hidden factors about the story by me directing telling them instead of them just reading between the lines I've typed, almost literally. But since I can't tell you anything except "Oh you gave me an idea *heart, exclamation point, heart*" you'll have to wait and see like _almost_ everyone else... you can also alternatively check my deviantart account, under this same name only with numbers reversed. I'm not providing a link since only people extremely curious should check, not the extremely bored.

**********Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.

Chapter 11: Rules To Proper Wishing 101

* * *

Riku, the genie that I can't remember the name of, and I skid through the palace doors, us humans breathing heavily and leaning over. "Who won?" I breathlessly ask.

"Definitely not you." Riku says regaining his breath and standing up again. Riku's about to say something else when a shrill, frantic voice reaches our ears.

"_Alanda! Rizu!"_

"Hide! Only Riku and I should ever see you." I whisper quickly to the teenage genie, hoping Turban-head can't hear me. The jinnīyah becomes a smoke that enters the lamp in my pocket. My eyes dart around a bit listening for Jafar.

"Alanda! Rizu!" He says stomping around the corner. "Where have you two been? Do you know what Maleficent would do if you were caught in the raid?!" His eyes are wild, so I'm guessing it would actually be pretty bad.

"Cut off your supply of Heartless?" Riku says casually walking up to me and starting a conversation. "So Agrabah's pretty interesting, what are we doing tomorrow?"

"She'd have my head! And I can't rule Agrabah without a head!"

"Well we can't set up pranks for the guards since they'll all be Heartless or in hiding by then. I guess we could always spar. I'll freeze the walls of one of the smaller rooms and we'll be cool enough to fight without getting heat exhaustion." I reply, the two of us ignoring Jafar.

"Are you listening to me?!" He yells.

Riku gives him a dirty look. "You mind? We're talking here Turban-head and you're being rude."

Jafar growls lowly. "I'm talking to _you, _Alanda and Rizu. And you'd _best _listen before I--"

I make a shushing sound and hold up my hand in the familiar talk-to-the-hand-gesture. "Ya hear that? That's the sound of you talking with your imaginary friends." I say slowly with a weird smile and nod. "But it's okay to have imaginary friends. In fact, I hear there's a whole world made especially for them."

"You mean that Foster's place that was mentioned in that book? That seemed like a weird world, not as weird as Wonderland though." Riku speaks up.

I turn to him. "I know, but it also seems pretty cool, maybe I'll drop by one day."

"_That_ is one trip I'm not going on. Have fun losing your sanity without me." Riku mock waves goodbye.

"Believe me, I will." I stick out my tongue childishly.

Jafar finally gets fed up with our ignoring of him and growls some words lowly, "that's it! You brats better just stay in the palace until I tell you otherwise," before turning around and going on his way, mostly likely to the Throne Room since that's where the Sultan should be.

"Alright Turban-head, just don't torture your Sultan voodoo dolly too much! You still need him to marry you off to the Princess!" I yell after him with my hands cupped around my mouth to amplify the sound. The royal vizier started to stomp down the hallway. I turned back to Riku to find his fist held out lightly, a prompt for a fist-pump. I do as silently asked with a grin. "_That_ is just too much fun. Hey, think we'll be overheard here?"

He thinks for a moment and looks around. "Probably, let's find one of those smaller rooms and you can try that silencing spell again. Maybe you'll get it this time" He starts walking off in what I deem a random direction since I don't know where anything is in this place. I follow, rolling my eyes, and hoping no one was eavesdropping since I just went over that last bit in my head and it didn't sound PG. 'Scuse my French, but damn my perverted classmates, they've got me thinking like them. _Why do _I_ follow Riku anyways? I'm older, by, uh, a year and something months._ I scrunch up my eyebrows in thought and continue walking. _When did he say he was born? December? Or was it November? Maybe February, or even January, I just remember he's a winter kid._

_Eh, doesn't matter, I'll be out of here by my birthday, so I won't need to get him anything for his. According to how quickly everything's happening so far, I'd say I'll be back on planet Earth by the time school starts. Oh, shoot, I forgot about my summer projects! I'll fail English for not doing my work! Again!_ My eyes go wide and my breathing becomes shallower as I remember that I'm supposed to actually pass my senior year without a bad mark in English. Little do I realize I 'm still walking. Well, until I crash into Riku that is. And fall, did I mention fall?

"Agrabah to Althea, you there? What's gotten into you?" He helps me up and looks at me weirdly.

"I'm gonna fail English just 'cause I didn't read some silly books." I mutter, my eyes still wide but my breath evening.

"Alright, what were they, maybe I've read them." He brushes hair out of his eyes and leads me through the door on his right, my left. It's a small storage room of _pillows. _Huh, don't see that everyday.

"Umm, Arise Sir Anthony Hopkins: The Biography; History of the World by some Roberts guy; and _Mein_ _Kampf_ by Adolf Hitler himself." I say with emphasis on the last name and proper pronunciation on the German title. I'm surprised I can still pronounce it so well since I haven't practiced German pronunciation in weeks.

"Alright, one, never heard of Anthony Hopkins. Two, never read History of the World by a guy named Roberts, only by Andrews, this Ansem guy, and I know of a song sung by a character called Sweeney by that name. Three, could you say that last title again, Mine Camp? And four, who the hell's Adolf Hitler?" He says after a moment, pulling up a blue and gold cushion to sit on. I stare at him in disbelief, falling onto a random and conveniently placed black and red pillow.

The same voice from earlier comes as the same lavender smoke comes from my pocket, the...jinnīyah? Once more, a teenage genie's body is formed from the smoke, causing me to blink in disbelief. It's still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I found a female genie, uhh, jinnīyah. "Oh Hitler was a tyrant in gypsy-girl's home-universe. A nasty man, he started a _purification_ war to get rid of all Jews, Gypsies, and Catholics. But he only started it when he found one of the only djinn lamps in that universe, then he wasted all three of his wishes on ways to kill them. He wished for those gas-chambers you've heard so much about, hun. He wished for every person he captured to just go along with it. For them to be, uh, complacent about the whole thing. And finally, he wished that he would never have to see his empire fall. Really, that guy was terrible, killing his own family to some degree. Now then, you have three--"

"'Ow does eve'yone know I'm gypsy?!" I scream exasperated before quickly covering my mouth at Riku's glare. Right, Jafar might hear and wander in.

The jinnīyah that I still can't remember the name of looks at me dully, puts one hand on her hip and waves the other in a weird gesture I'm guessing means 'duh' based on what she says next. "Honey, you practically scream gypsy. Your mismatched-can't-tell-your-heritage-at-all face, your rat's-nest-loose dark hair, your eye shape and color, your figure, the way you move, the multiple accents that I'm sure you don't even realize you have, your skin which is the perfect tone for a mix Transylvanian-Arab gypsy." I stare in disbelief that she could pin me so easily with just a skin tone. "In fact, I bet if you had things completely your way and you weren't supposed to be fighting, you wouldn't be wearing that, you'd be wearing something a bit more like this." She snaps her fingers and my apparel changes to a dress version of my outfit, with a purple corset with red lacing on the outside, my black skirt having multiple layers of red tulle, and my sleeves becoming bell-sleeves.

"I have to admit it's nice. And I really would wear such a thing if wearing _long, flowing, definitely movement-hindering_ _skirts_ wasn't such a bad idea in battle. But you think you can pin me that easily? Alright, what about him? What's his heritage, huh?" I stare at the genie and point to Riku. She stares back and then turns to him, looking him over for only a second before she starts doing the same to him.

"Born and raised in Destiny Islands. An island paradise very close to Kingdom Hearts that has multiple Japanese influences. Father was a fisherman, mother wasn't from your world. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you got your looks from her. Too other-worldly in a dark sense for them to be common in a place that close to the universe's heart. I'd actually say you're of Darkness-descent, what did you say your name was? First and last."

"...Ankokutai Riku..." He looks at her curiously both before and after she chokes upon hearing his name.

"An-Ankokutai? You sure that's what your last name is? It's not anything else? Like Hikari hopefully?" He glares at her in a way that says, I know what my own name is. I stare at her as she hyperventilates a bit and then slowly regains control of herself. "Right, well, do you know who your aunt is? Or how your mother got to Destiny Islands?" She's nervous.

"My aunt is Mei Lin. And my mother came to Destiny Islands just as mysteriously as Kairi did." And he's getting annoyed at the questions, rolling his eyes.

"Kairi...Hidenka? Of Radiant Garden?" She stutters unsurely and I quirk an eyebrow. _So that's her real last name._

"No, Kairi Shimachou, daughter of the mayor." Now he's getting angry, and an angry Riku's not pretty. But only when you're on the receiving end of his anger, otherwise, where's the popcorn and slushies?

"R-Right, well, I'm not going to say anything else about you, and uh, _please_ don't hesitate to tell me when I'm annoying you or your companion, Master Riku." Is she sucking up?

"She rubbed your lamp, Amani, and her name's Althea." Riku points a thumb at me and for a second I do nothing but stare, eventually bursting into spontaneous waving while being jealous that Riku's hearing and memory was good enough to catch the jinnīyah's name.

"Yes, I realize that but you both were there when I was released so I'm assuming you two are close friends and companions thereby causing you both to be my masters. You definitely aren't brother and sister since you look nothing alike. Maybe you're courting, sounded that way, but maybe your customs are so different that opposite sex friends could always sound like they're flirting but really have no interest in each other romantically and sexually-wise." She says in what I'm dubbing as her 'duh' voice that she seems to like taking with me.

I can't help but turn my head down and hope my hair falling in the way of my face covers the heat I feel on my cheeks. _Yeah, ok, so some friends back home can act like that, but they've almost always known each other for a few years and I've only known Riku for...almost a month, twenty days or so, give or take a day. And do we really sound like that?_ Had I bothered to not let it be seen—however subtly—that I'm bothered by the genie's comment, I would have seen a slightly younger islander making an effort to not look at me whilst shoving his bangs aside with the hand closest to me moving them and lingering near his cheeks a moment, as though hiding something. But of course, I'm just too caught up in my own thoughts to notice the thoughts of others. "We're too busy for that stuff. We've to find his missing best friend and his girlfriend." I say slyly, not saying whose girlfriend she was exactly.

"She's not my girlfriend..." Riku mumbles.

I don't look at him since I'm certain I'd burst out laughing if I saw his face. Then again, just imagining his possible angry pout makes me want to laugh, so I smile. Smiles have a habit of changing how a person feels and quelling all other emotions except joy, seems to work to laughing too, if only a little since I feel a tick in my face signaling a laugh trying to escape. "All I said was 'his' girlfriend, that could've applied to you or Sora, be glad I didn't say boyfriend, ok? Anyways you were saying something about three wishes earlier Amani?"

The teenage genie has a strange look as she looks at us. "Right, well, you both get three wishes. Having two masters at the same time isn't common but it's happened before, usually when a guy buys one of the many containers we can be captured in and gives it to a girl he knows. Mistress Althea, you've already used one of your wishes, so you have two now. Master Riku, you still have three. Now listen very closely because I'm not going to repeat the rules at any time. One, I cannot and will not kill people for you, so if you had half a mind to make me kill someone for you, you better make that other half of your mind knock some sense into the first half."

Riku mutters a joking curse and snaps his fingers in disappointment. The genie's left side of her face lifts up a bit in a quirky hint of a smile. "Two, we all lose loved ones to the great beyond, but once they are there, only a necromancer would be willing to bring those people back, and I am most definitely not a necromancer, so don't even ask."

"Wait! You said 'willing' and once a person is there, is it just me or does that imply that you could bring a person back as long as their time limit for lingering in this world as spirits hasn't passed yet?" I raise my hand in the manner of eager school kids answering a question no one else knew the answer to.

Her quirky smile grows larger. "Tell me, hun, are you a lawyer? 'Cause you sure can find loopholes like one. And I'm guessing you figured out the time limit thing on your own since not even most modern-day gypsies know. Yeah, you have that long, but most of the time, they only remain for a few minutes. I'd only be able to revive the particularly strong-hearted and even then I'd need some help and _a lot_ of paperwork. Bringing back the dead ain't easy you know.

"Back on topic, rule three, no messing with people's emotions and that especially includes making people fall in love. No I wish this person was head over heels in love with me. No I wish I had a horde of fangirls or fanboys or both if you play both teams. No I wish my worst enemy was eternally depressed or happy and loving or was in love with my other worst enemy so that they could get off my back. And my last rule? No. Wishing. For. More. Wishes. It's bad form, impolite, and you won't get it anyways. Any questions?"

I seriously think about the rules. No wishing someone dead, ok, fine with me. If I don't have the heart to kill someone myself, then why should I have someone else do the dirty business anyways. It's still blood on my hands. Not that I'd kill anybody unless it was an accident or a life or death situation. But technically, now that I think about it, Riku and I, we have blood on our hands. Me most of all since I actually know what's going on almost exactly and do nothing about it. Everyday Maleficent sends out legions of Heartless to take varying worlds, all of them holding life, and a good number holding humanoid life. From just-born babes to the sick and frail elderly. And hundreds of them being turned into new Heartless soldiers every single day. I frown to myself, thinking, _why don't I care? I was raised in a society where killing was frowned upon but it happened everyday. Am I immune to the effects? That makes little sense. Maybe I think of these flailing worlds as those everyday deaths and the scrying stone and Maleficent's words as the newspaper and T.V. news programs where I'd hear about them? Yeah, that makes sense, still a little disconcerting, but a bit understandable now and strangely comforting. Heavens knows what I'll say to comfort myself the day I actively take a life no matter the situation._

No playing with emotions, ok, gotcha. Simple enough rule. And a very good one. The emotions people feel should be real and their own, not someone else's. What about the Nobodies though? They claim it's only memories, but they at one point have a memory witch with them. Does Naminé implant those memories or change them so that the feeling are the only things they all remember? No, she'd never do that. Naminé's a sweet girl and the Nobody of a sweet girl who later on becomes the girlfriend of a sweet boy. No, those memories are their own and the reason why only the feelings felt in each memory can be felt clearly is because the Heart holds the actual memories and the Organizations Hearts are either wandering the cosmos collecting more Hearts or sitting in their Kingdom Hearts moon.

No raising the dead. Unless the person is strong-hearted and still wandering the cosmos as a spirit...or maybe even a Heartless? She didn't say anything about the contents of the Heart mattering so it could be full of Darkness or full of Light. I'm guessing Princesses of Heart also follow this rule. How else could Kairi bring back someone who's become a Heartless. And the summoning gems the Fairy Godmother revives! Merlin, how could I forget about those! She had said something about the poor dears losing their worlds but having a strong enough Heart to not outright die when each of their worlds perished. I wonder if her no raising the dead rule includes worlds or is that something only a Princess of Heart can do? I make up my mind about two things. To use one of my remaining wishes to doubly ensure that Riku won't die forever if the future Riku-nort banishes all but his body to that void of Darkness behind the doors to Kingdom Hearts since as far as I'm concerned, the whole Destiny Island Trio died during the first game before being brought back eventually. And two, to ask Amani if she could bring back a world that went puh-tooey.

"Yeah, I have a question," I say with an important sounding voice, acting very dignified...then we all heard a sound strangely like _gurgle, gurgle_. I change my question and askee with a blush and now humble voice. "When was dinner again?"

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	12. Hey, look it's your best friend!

**AN:// **Alright, I don't want to spew apologies if no one's listening but I will say this, senior year of high school is surprisingly easy. Maybe it's because the new teachers aren't immune to my charm yet (convincing them to give us little to no homework for most of the year, projects excluded.) Maybe it's because I don't have my crush sitting in front of me in any classes (because he goes to another school now.) Maybe it's because I don't have to watch out for my brother this year (because he got kicked out and is in a new school.) Maybe it's the joy of finally being alone in the school! Don't know, but anyways, bi-weekly seems a better time for me to update the story, so expect two updates every month and a good chance of little drabbles at the end of some.

Oh yes, I almost forgot, **xXxspiralookamixXx**, once again, thanks for that idea, tell me if I did it justice.

And **_GypsyKate_**, I hope the bold, underlined, italicized name caught your attention. I just wanted to say that I don't think it's fair that you can review the story and tell me things and I can't reply to your review because it counts as Private Messaging and apparently your account doesn't allow PMs *pout*. Anyways, heard of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th, have the 1st in my bookshelf, can't remember anything about the 2nd, looked up the 3rd, got inspiration for Amani from the 4th, and believe the 5th is so totally awesome.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I wouldn't have half a mind to beg my friend to buy me the Kingdom Hearts action figures in the Epcot park while he's in Orlando. As it is, I have to keep my cell off to make sure I won't text him begging.

Chapter 12: Hey, look it's your best friend!

* * *

This morning in the lovely deserts of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Agrabah, is full of chaos. The Heartless are still running amok, well, except for a single Shadow Heartless that's peeking over the edge of a stone half-wall I'm leaning on, overlooking a large part of the city. This little Shadow's eyes sometimes take a subtle green tint, particularly when there's water within twenty feet of him. He's a cowardly little fellow and is one of the Shadow's that mobbed Riku for chocolate a while back. Because of this handy and strange coloration of his eyes, Riku calls him Mizu whereas I'm leaning more towards calling him a fan-made name for a certain character. Mizu's only here right now because he was in one of the legions of Heartless Jafar called here. Sadly our Wyvern friend is too powerful a Heartless to be called away from home base to here.

Anyways, back to the chaos. There's some Bandits and a supervising Fat Bandit cornering two Palace Guards in the courtyard. More Bandits running through every alleyway. A pompous prince in purple clothes cowering behind some barrels while Heartless check over the area. A couple screams coming from the Marketplace and by the entrance to Agrabah. There's a heat haze over many buildings near the other edge of the city and the middle. Probably meaning that there are a couple fires from unattended cooking fires that had personal belongings accidentally dropped into them. More people are hiding around trying to not make a sound. And it's been like this since dinner last night. Oh, sorry, in Agrabah, dinner is lunch and supper is dinner. So it's been like this since supper.

I spy some children searching through a barrel of trash in a surprisingly Heartless-void area. I squint my eyes trying to get a better look and clean my glasses before squinting again. "Well would you look at that Riku? Even with the city going to ruins, some people are more concerned about their stomachs...and the lack of rain." I add when I see the youngest child search the sky for clouds. I look as well and see none.

I hear Riku throwing something up and down and I know it's the ball he stole from Princess Jasmine's room. The one that belongs to her pet tiger, Raaja I think. "I know you can't do anything about it but I felt like telling you anyways." I say still looking out. Why change my view when the only other people around, Riku and Amani, are way over to the left in a little room in the tower while I'm standing on the walkway between two towers.

Riku makes a strangled sigh and speaks up sarcastically. "Oh, wait, I can do something about _both_ problems."

I turn to Mizu and pretend I'm talking to a little kid. He pushes away from the wall and looks at me like a curious child. "Ya hear that? Riku says he can fix the rain and hunger problem. Should we start calling him Prince Riku the Magnificent?" I yell out to Riku now. "Right, Riku, and just _how_ would you do that?"

"I wish it was raining fish that all those poor people could eat, that's how!" He screams back, clearly aggravated for some reason.

"As you wish Master Riku but I can only do it for about fifteen minutes!" Amani chimes in cheerily with a snap of her fingers before Atlantica decides to drop itself on this world, not literally of course since there aren't any mermaids falling from the sky. I turn back to the city, Mizu joining me with his now green-tinted eyes. Fish of almost all sizes and shapes are falling over Agrabah. The children are rejoicing and singing praises. The purple-clothed prince from another kingdom leaps out of his hiding spot screaming and the Heartless jump him. Soon enough the fish-rain stops and every person that was visible before is now either a Heartless or in hiding, and with plenty of fish to eat. I pick up a small fish that landed on my head, I think it's tuna, and stride quickly over to Riku leaving behind a very happy Shadow Heartless that's playing with his food.

Riku's mouth had dropped and he's staring in disbelief. He wants disbelief? How about pain instead? "You idiot!" I hit him with the fish. "Of all wishes you could've made, you wished for this?" I hold the fish in his sight.

"Hey it's not my fault! I'm having an off-day." He mumbles the last part and I refrain from hitting him again. I take the time to look at him. Bags under the eyes, hair doesn't even look like it was combed this morning, he was playing with his food this morning, he won't look me in the eye like he usually does, neither frown nor smile on his face, he's fidgety and staring at his hands. All signs point to one thing.

"What was it about? Your nightmare?" I toss the fish aside and mentally wish there were chairs here so that we wouldn't have to stand. Mentally of course so that I wouldn't waste a wish.

He doesn't question me and just continues staring at his hands as if there's something on them besides his gloves. "Kairi, I couldn't save her in time. And there was a monster hurting her. He had already killed Sora and she was crying over him. I walked towards her to comfort her but she backed away pulling Sora with her. She was scared so I looked behind me, assuming the monster was there. I saw a mirror instead. _I_ was the monster. _I_ killed Sora. _I_ was hurting Kairi. I turned back around and she was dead too, my hands around her throat." He finally chances a look at me. "Don't gypsies read dreams? Please, just tell me it's not like that? Tell me I won't kill them!" He places his hands on my shoulders and shakes me, desperate.

I think about the dream. Seems pretty straight-forward, but the ending wasn't right. Seems unfinished, not to mention he doesn't actually kill them according to the game. "Do you want to kill them? Riku?" He shakes his head, mouthing 'no'. "Then you won't as long as you remember that. A dream is not a sure way of guessing the future and both can change so easily, unlike your Heart and Mind. Ever heard of the term mind over matter? If you convince yourself of something, slowly but surely the universe will agree with you and make sure it's as you believe. Tell yourself everyday, I won't kill Sora and Kairi because they're my family and you don't hurt the ones you love." He still looks a little doubtful so I chance a look at Amani and grin stupidly at the idea that just struck me. "And if you're really afraid of hurting them, you have a genie, wish for their safety."

He blinks and slowly grins and then laughs. "I can't believe I forgot about that. But I have to word it right..." He finally lets go of me and gazes up into the stone ceiling thoughtfully. "Amani, I wish..." He talks slowly to gather his words. "I wish that no matter what happens...I will never hurt Sora and Kairi with even the slightest intention of killing them. Yeah, that's good"

I smile secretly, knowing Riku's too busy staring into space and Amani's too busy granting his wish. _Sorry Xehanort, but it looks like you won't be able to even fight Sora when you possess Riku later on. Thank the worlds for nightmares that scare the bejeezes out of even the toughest characters, er, people._

I then hear a squeak and the sound of claws scratching stone. I turn to where I left Mizu and see him jumping up and down while pointing somewhere away from the palace. I jog over to Mizu and look in the gestured direction, immediately spying two events of interest.

The first event takes place in the marketplace and it's a conversation between Jafar and Maleficent, the former summoning Bandit Heartless as he walks away from the self-proclaimed Mistress of All Evil. And Maleficent? Well, she's disappearing in a wall of green flame.

The second event is of a trio appearing at the entrance to the city. Familiar figures, all male, one's a human called Sora, another's a humanoid dog called Goofy, and the last is a humanoid duck that I don't even want to acknowledge but will anyways called Donald. "Oh, Riku! Guess who's dropped by?" I sing to him with a grin. "It's your B-F-F Forever!" I squint my eyes and adjust my glasses. Sora's picking up a fish with one hand and looking back at his companions, most possibly asking them a question about it.

"Sora?!" The pale islander scrambles over to the tiny Shadow and I and gazes out over the edge of the half-wall. Amani though just disappears back into her lamp without a word. Curious. Riku stares long and hard at Agrabah's latest visitors. "It really is him... what is he doing here? He better be looking for Kairi...but if she were here, wouldn't I have found her by now...and it's those idiots again...why are they following him around?"

Even more suddenly than Sora's arrival to Agrabah is the familiar scent of..._sniff sniff_ soft fire, dead flowers, and something that just smells dark. Maleficent. Then the sharp noise of her heels on the stone floors comes within our hearing range. Ah, so that's why Amani disappeared, she remembered what we said about not being seen by others. That's one observant jinnīyah. I jab Riku with my elbow and draw his attention away from his friend. I gesture to the fish on the ground near Mizu and whisper, "You want to able to sneak away later and meet up with _him_, yes? Pretend you never saw him and were too busy watching My—Mizu and me." I kneel down next to the Shadow that I almost called another name and lightly toss a fish at him. The little darkling catches it and bites down on the head. With my peripheral view, I see Riku looking down at us with annoyance that I'm not sure is fake.

"Ah, there you are. Jafar said you'd be around here somewhere." Maleficent walks up to us, seemingly from nowhere. I fake a gasp of surprise and stand up quickly, brushing sand off my pants and shirt that Amani eventually changed that dress back into. Maleficent's eyes stray to the side and narrow a bit. Her hand right hand clenches onto her staff as she waves with her right hand over to the town, a gesture she can use to summon Heartless. Sure enough, I glance that way with my peripherals and see Fat Bandits appear around the heroes. She covers her wave as a half-hearted wave made generally. "Such a nice view of the city. Have you two been out here all day? Maybe see something interesting?"

I give Riku a look and he gets the hint and speaks up. Cue the bored and annoyed boy act. "Interesting? How about it raining fish not too long ago? That's been the only interesting thing to happen all day, no, all _week_!" He throws up his hands in exasperation that's not fully fake.

"Oh? That's all? Well I can assure you it will get very exciting, very soon, my dears. You see, it's been discovered that one of the last Princesses are on this world. Riku, can I trust you to deliver her to him should Jafar fail?" She brings her staff forward and places both hands on it, leaning forward ever so slightly with a grin.

"Whatever..." He replies, hands in his pockets.

"Good, good, her name is Jasmine, she's the Sultan's daughter as I'm sure you realize. I can't have Jafar failing in capturing her, so why don't you run along Riku while I speak with my apprentice, hmm?" She gently pushes him in the direction of the stairs and once more he gets the hint, this time leaving with only a wave back to me. "Witchling. Do you see that over there?" She gestures far away from the palace.

I inwardly wince, she hasn't said my name at all. Normally she would at least address me with my name _once_ in the beginning of a conversation, unlike now. I'm guessing she's being very serious today. I look over to the entrance of the city and see the Heartless still attacking the Hero Trio. Heheh, I rhymed, I get a wish...once I remember what the chant was for making wishes after making accidental rhymes. "Looks like some guys being attacked by Heartless. Actually, it's looks like, uhh, Sora, Goofy, and Donald."

"Did young Riku see them?" She's watching them make their way to the market, slowly but surely.

"Nah, he was too busy calling me childish and playing with that ball over there. 'Course this was before the, _ahem_, interesting rainfall."

She keeps her eyes on them while I let my eyes wander the city for either Jafar or Riku. Mizu though, the cute little creature of Darkness disappears into the ground as a quickly shrinking black puddle to hide. "...Keep him away from him. I don't want him leaving...I, uh, still have use of him."

I roll my eyes, she doesn't need to say who she's talking about, it's too obvious. _Keep Riku away from Sora, Riku can't leave me unless he's dead or something like that, blah, blah, blah!_ "Right, so is that all you needed to tell me Mistress?"

She finally looks to me. "No, I've discovered multiple interesting little tidbits about Riku since he arrived and I thought I should share some of them with you." I nod silently, giving her the go ahead and she starts with something simple. "Riku is the true Keyblade Master of your generation."

"Wow! I knew he was important." I say with wide eyes and she nods approvingly at my 'reaction'.

"Yes, quite amazing. And not only that, but he is my nephew."

* * *

**AN://** o.O Did I really just type that? *reads it over* Huh, looks like I did. If someone actually saw that coming (meaning they looked up the meaning of Ankokutai and noted how strange Maleficent acted in chapters 7 and 8) then I applaud you for being one of the few to realize I put a lot of hints in every chapter. And for the benefit of my lazy readers, I'll have a chapter entitled "EXTRA: References" as the very last chapter of the entire story. Keep an eye out for it, yup, yup! *ironic laugh* Oh yeah, and I have another little drabble for you guys. It's based on the scene where Yuffie and Althea both wanted the last cheesecake, and remember, these little drabbles are the only way you'll see me using Third-Person point of view (if you wanna know why it's because I think I really need to work on First-Person and so am practicing it this way). So without further ado, The Cheesecake Thief... *curtains rise*

**Start Drabble**

**The Cheesecake Thief**

Althea gratefully sighs as she enters the supermarket of Traverse Town. It was a long, grueling mission in Agrabah, full of so many strange and unusual things. Right now, Althea is simply glad she managed to get away from the castle. Sure, she had to drug the soup with a slow-acting sleeping draught, eat the soup for appearance's sake, swallow the antidote before she fell asleep, and world-hop until she got to Traverse Town, but it was worth it.

"Definitely worth it," she mutters as she gazes upon the oh so delectable little piece of heaven called, chocolate cheesecake. She hungrily licks her lips and slowly reaches for the dessert that once again is the last of its kind. Her ruminations of a spotlight and a heavenly choir are broken by the shout of boy and the squawk of a bird. She frowns deeply and turns to the disturbance.

Sora, lovable junior hero Sora is there, pointing at her as if she were a germ. Donald Duck does the same act of pointing with an indignant and angry face while good ol' Goofy looks quizzically between the rest of his group and the stranger they just met. "Hey! You're that Cheesecake Thief!" Sora says.

"_Bwak!_ And she's trying to get the last cheesecaaake!" Donald adds in, gazing not at the girl but at the cake behind her.

"Cheesecake...Thief? Me? Says who?" Althea says, still leaning over the cake with an outstretched hand.

"Well, Yuffie told us she bought the last cheesecake before you could and that you were so angry that you went ninja on her and mugged her for the cheesecake after she left the store!" Sora declares proudly.

Althea gives him a blank look, all the while thinking about how she could distract him long enough to get to the Ten Items Or Less line. Eventually, an idea hits her. In the leg to be more precise. The quartet look down at the dizzy Shadow that ran out of Aisle Three. Then they look into Aisle Three and see some Heartless playing around. Althea mentally grins as she shrieks in a very high-pitched tone, picking up the Shadow and throwing the unfortunate being at the Duck. "_Eek!_ Heartless, help!"

As Donald quacks and squawks loudly, doing a great impersonation of Althea from a moment ago, Goofy runs into Aisle Three face-before-shield, and Sora follows dragging Donald by the sleeve. The poor Shadow leaps off of Donald's head and grabs onto Althea's leg like a little child. Althea however, simply picks up the cake and walks over to the counter where a cashier is hiding poorly. She drops some munny onto the counter and starts walking away, Heartless and chocolate cheesecake in tow. Then she stops as she remembers something. "Oh yeah, you might want to clean up Aisle 3..." A crash and Goofy's very distinct battle-cry. "And Aisle 4. Laters."

**End Drabble**

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	13. Nephew? Really? Do tell

**AN:// **'Ello there peoples of the world and readers of TIAG, hope I didn't lose too many of you with this uuber long wait. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Merry Kwanza, Happy New Years even to you Chinese because I probably won't update in time for the Chinese New Year, uhh, did I forget any holidays? Ah, yes, my all-time favorite, Happy Belated Halloween!! So many things have been happening recently, don't you all agree? On my end, I've been up to my neck in studying materials and trying not to fail AP Bio, Anatomy & Physiology, and Calculus. Oh and running around like crazy trying to take care of everything anyone asked me to take care of, like little nieces and nephews and cousins. And sometime during these stressful months, my best guy friend and I ended up dating *wistful sigh* and the best part is that both our families approve completely. *clears throat* Anyways, I have a question for everyone here that I'll occasionally ask again depending on upcoming chapters, **_How many people that read this are below the age of 15? Or just can't stand violence or gorey details?_** ...Maybe I should say 13 since that's the youngest age in the game (Tidus and Selphie)...

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is recognizable in even the most barest of ways.**

Chapter 13: Nephew? Really? Do tell...

* * *

I blink blankly and a wry smile works its way onto my face as I rub the bridge of my nose. "Uh, rewind, what was that? Ahaha, I thought you just said he was your, uh, your..."

"Nephew?" She supplies helpfully.

"Yeahh, that. You're pulling my leg, right? Joking around?" _'Cause that's a very weird thought, of course it's not as weird as the few stories I've heard where Maleficent was his actual mother or Sephiroth was his father or Ansem or a mixture of that._

"I can assure you I'm not 'pulling your leg' and if you don't hush then I won't explain like I was planning to." I quickly shut-up and let Maleficent speak. "It started many years ago, before even Aurora was born. I had a sister that wasn't very good at her art, she was so much younger than me, it was to be expected, especially since she was only half-fay. One of the few magicks she could pride herself in, were her scrying spells. I had come home for the holidays, my teacher always allowed us to go home around those times.

"I stumbled upon my sister scrying and she didn't see me there so she continued watching that man. His eyes were of the sea and his hair of the night sky. She grew infatuated with his image and would watch him whenever her lessons were over with for the day. I saw nothing wrong with that. If anything, I used that infatuation to make her work harder with her lessons. Mother though, grew infuriated with her when she found out she loved a human. Mother wrecked my sister's scrying stone and started casting a spell on her that slowly bound her magic.

"It was a forbidden spell and Mother didn't have the energy to finish it before she perished. She made a mistake though, not only was my sister's magic bound, but her memories as well. It came to the point where my sister became a disgrace to our family name and I as the new matriarch had to do something about it. I recalled her infatuation with that man on Destiny Islands and decided that to spite her, I would banish her to the very world that caused her disgrace.

"I hadn't heard from her until many years later when she was pregnant. Somehow, Mother's spell came undone and her magic was free once more and with it her memories. She sent me a message with a bottle somehow, saying that she would be having a son soon but that she wouldn't survive. She asked that if the son survived that I care for him as my own. _Tch_, the very thought that I could care for a bastard child makes me laugh still. I didn't even check in at the expectancy date to see if a son existed."

"Sounds a little cruel-hearted if you ask me."

"What do you know about Life?"

"Not much I admit, but I can say that I'm confused Mistress. Riku says he gets his last name from his mom, but it's a very Japanese name. Mistress, I thought the world you came from was of a different origin."

"Surnames aren't used very much on my homeworld, but since we have always traveled into areas that were different from our name, we accommodated. In places of Asian influence, we are the Ankokutai. In places of European influence before the year 1400, we are the Malignant. After 1400, well, we haven't had to deal with those worlds yet." Her facial expression gets a little 'iffy,' as if she's thinking about something and doesn't like it.

I look up a little and bit my lip. "So, in Agrabah, he's really Riku the Malignant?" I think a second and try to stifle my laugh, ultimately failing. "_Hahaha_, and what am I then? You know what we pretend to be in these old places. Ah, I'm sorry for laughing, Mistress, but your nephew is really one of the most goodnatured people I know."

"Yes, that is a problem, eventually when I tell him of his heritage, I'll have to inform him of the proper way he's supposed to project himself, none of this silly good boy stuff. I won't have him turn out like his mother."

"...How... interesting, why did you tell me this by the way Mistress?"

"As my apprentice, I decided you should know the more scandalous facts of my life so as to better prepare for counterattacks should someone question you about it." She comes closer to me and I dare not step back, she's still being completely serious.

"Ah, ok, so I'm supposed to make sure your secret doesn't get out Mistress, and to control it if it does happen to get out?"

She nods. "And ensure he doesn't find out until I decide to tell him. Do you understand your task Witchling?"

"Yes, Mistress." _Bloody hell, at least she's not gonna cast some sort of spell to keep me from blabbing...oh shoot, Murphey's Law, pleeease don't--_

"And I've already cast a spell that prevents you from talking about it within hearing distance of persons that don't know. The gossiping imbecile Pete is my most loyal follower so he knows, the spell was instigated just for him."

"Uh-huh, gotcha." _Geez! I'm second to _Pete_! How very sad._ "Alright, your secret's safe Mistress, anything else I should know before I help Riku secure the Princess?"

Maleficent pulls back, acting very casual, and starts gathering the flames of her teleportation spell. "...Yes, you're engaged to be married on his 18th birthday, dear Althea."

I nod my head, not really listening as she starts disappearing in the flames. "Oh, ok, wait, what?!" She's disappeared already, but I know she should still be able to hear me. "Explain yourself Witch!"

"Just 'pulling your leg' as you call it." Her voice replies before disappearing altogether and then I realize she said my name with that curious statement. I silently let a look of realization grace my face before the disbelief that she could crack a joke kicks in.

I kick aside a fish and grumble to myself. Then I shake my head and race after Riku, I need to concentrate on my objective. Grab Jasmine, run back to the castle. Then figure out what to say when Riku discovers he's the Keyblade Master. Figure out why Sentinel and Mizu are weird Heartless. And eventually decide what to do when Sora goes to Hollow Bastion to get rid of Maleficent.

With a tired sigh, I continue on my way. I meet up with Riku as he spies on Sora, he asks for me to cast the invisibility spell on him so he could get a better view. I do so without a second thought. For the rest of our time in Agrabah, that's all I do. I just watch Riku and cast a spell for him whenever he needs it or asks for it. I can't bring myself to do more than that right now. It's still so hard to believe...

"Why, you're like a son to me, I only want what's best for you." Maleficent coos to Riku, wrapping an arm around him gently. To the Hellfire Club, they probably think she's doing that just to gain his trust. Even Riku must believe that because of what I had told him before she told me the truth. Surprisingly enough, she's telling the truth. It's still so strange to think about it. Like many other girls that played Kingdom Hearts when it first came out, I had a small anime crush on Riku, and now I find out he's her nephew without knowing it. I shudder a little and then realize I've been missing out on the entire conversation since we ran out of Agrabah, captive Princess in hand and the Cave of Wonders falling down around us.

Riku's staring at me along with the rest of the club. I quickly think about what happened in the original game and try to pretend I was listening. "So, we leave immediately?"

"Not you, Witchling. I need you here." Maleficent says walking over to me now. "You have some missions to do quickly and then you're back to watching the Princesses. I'm sure you'll agree that young Riku has proven himself and doesn't need a Guardian anymore?"

There's something in her voice that makes me agree hesitantly. I refuse to look anywhere but at the fairy witch, trying to figure out what she's trying to say. "...Of course Mistress, I guess...I just got used to always doing missions...with Riku." I speak to him now, though not looking his way. "I guess this is farewell for now, I hope you find Kairi safe and sound."

"...Yeah. Don't go back to your world while I'm gone...I still haven't gotten back at you for that prank." He says the first word quietly, and then goes back to his louder, arrogant tone."

I finally turn back at him and smirk at his smirk. "An eye for an eye makes the world blind, hun."

His eyes wander quickly as he thinks of a counter. "Better to be blind than deaf."

"So says the warrior-wannabe."

"Wannabe-witch."

"You can't give someone your own insult, Copycat."

"Prick."

"Old Man."

"Does the baby want her bottle?"

"Does the pedophile want his girl?"

"Shorty."

"Rains on the tall people first, Mr. Lightning Conductor."

"Emo."

"Mr. Poofypants. Come on, gimme another, I've got plenty."

"...Priss."

"Señior Snowball."

"Where do you get that from?" He asks confused. I gesture to his hair. "Oh, well I'm out of names."

"I realize that, now get lost, you gotta find your girlfriend." I look back at Maleficent just as they both frown, though my teacher's quickly changes to a half-smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Riku shake his head lightly and walk away, following Captain Hook to his ship. I don't know why he would do that, but I figure I'll find out soon enough, so I just listen to the rest of the Club and their arguing, being sure to take mental notes.

* * *

**AN://** For anyone that couldn't tell, the marriage bit is just something to make sure you guys and gals aren't dozing off while reading since it is a pretty boring chapter in my opinion. If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	14. So Cold Now

**AN://** Okay, so I know it's been a while since I posted. But I haven't been laying around idle. I have two chapters finished, this and the next. I'm kinda not even supposed to be on right now, still grounded from something, but I decided I could sneak online for a few minutes. So here I am, please keep your tomatoes in your bags and eat them istead of throwing them. Please? *braces herself just in case someone decides to throw stuff at her*

**Disclaimer: **If my name were Tetsuya Nomura, then why does my birth certificate say I'm 17 going on 18?

Chapter 14: So cold now...

* * *

"_Go to these worlds and let the Heartless roam their surfaces. I need someone small and stealthy on these worlds, so Pete's out of the question. Strike a deal with the most vengeful and dark-hearted person you can find on each world. We can't let the boy gain more ground in this war..._"

Her words float through my mind as I drop by every world on the list to do my job. First I appeared on a small island surrounded by other island, some of them having volcanoes. Looking around on the main island, I saw a strange small creature serving ice cream, another fixing hair, and another in the lighthouse. I soon found the necessary character chasing after another small creature, screaming "Trog!" I approached him when he was alone and made a deal. The normal one, I'll give control of these vicious creatures of Darkness if you ensure a spiky-haired brunette boy with a giant key doesn't gain ground on this world.

I made the same deal on other worlds. A total of ten worlds that I spent a day in each. A world with a mouse detective and his rival, Rattigan. Another with toys that came to life and were their own persons (I couldn't find any truly bad people there besides the human Sid so I just left the Heartless to roam and do as they will). There was a world with bugs, where a colony of ants was being controlled by vicious grasshoppers. Another with little blue creatures called Smurfs. A world with pastel animals that kill each other in their daily lives and yet somehow came back to life in the mornings as if nothing had happened.

A darker toned world with gargoyle statues coming to life in New York City and just trying to survive. A world nearly identical to Earth only with a digital Earth existing alongside it and presently being ruled by a child emperor. Another dual-world, only this one has dead people living in an ancient Japan styled Earth with creatures called Hollows running amok. And the last world has a bunch of races like "Khajits" and "Imperials" and "Wood Elves" and a small town called Seyda Neen.

Now, I'm taking a break. It took a while, but I found Neverland, and just in time too. The crow's nest is a great place to spy from. The Jolly Roger just boarded the Highwind and now Sora and company are on the wooden deck of a pirate ship. There's Riku standing over them, taunting them, sending Donald and Goofy away while he talks with Sora, reminding him of the search for Kairi. He's being cruelly nonchalant about the whole thing, Riku that is. It's almost as if he doesn't care anymore...

It's only when he opens up the trapdoor beneath Sora that I decide to sneak up on him and confront him. "Let's get under way already!" I hear him say before disappearing into the Captain's Cabin. I call for a time stop and levitate down to the door of the room he's in. After the minute it takes him to realize the ship isn't moving, he opens the door, ready to yell at the legal captain of the ship, but then he sees me. "Althea? What are you doing here?" He's shocked, that much is obvious.

I pull him out of the room and close the door. "We need to talk. Follow me, quickly." Then I run to center mast and start climbing up. I stumble into the highest basket and wait. He climbs in soon after. Before he says anything I cancel the stop spell and speak. "So what was up with that? I saw how you were treating your supposed best friend. You're jealous and angry, why?"

His lips become a thin line and he refuses to speak. I sigh and aim a kick at his shin. He blocks it. "Resorting to fighting me to get answers? You'll never win, you know?"

I remind him of where we are. "We're in the crow's nest and your style of fighting involves movement whereas mine focuses on balance. Too much movement would cause you to fall out of here and unless you know how to fly, you'll be a Riku-pancake. Start talking or I start kicking."

He looks out over the edge and consents. "I don't like the anthromorphs. They hang onto him like fangirls. He's supposed to be my best friend, that means following _me_ and doing as _I_ do. That means taking _my_ hand when I offer for us to be together again. But what does he do? He pulls his damned useless key out and is prepared to attack me. And for what? A worthless puppet. He chose a puppet over Kairi! A puppet! Sure it had a heart but that doesn't change that it was a stupid, fucking puppet.

"I thought that later on, when we were all older, I'd be willing to give Kairi to him. But ever since the Islands fell, he hasn't done a single thing to earn my blessing, and if he doesn't change soon, I'm keeping Kairi far away from him when she wakes up. I'll tell her he died with our world and to move on. He didn't help me find Kairi, he doesn't have what it takes to save her either. I don't want to fucking see him ever again and I especially don't want him near my sister!"

_He's ranting_, I think absently. _Ranting and getting louder and louder. Has he always considered her a sister? Did we fans misread his affection for her?And he's cursing. He's really passionate about it, Maleficent couldn't have done this. Could she? No, she just feeds distrust with lies. But she would want Riku and Sora to meet up again and again until her game is done. She would never consciously go so far as to make Riku hate him like this. This is all him. Mistress, I finally see how he could be your nephew...and I don't like it at all._ "Riku, shut up." I say when there's a lull in his rant.

"You don't understand how this feels, so don't tell me to shut up when I just started talking like you wanted me to." A quick sardonic laugh comes from him and he covers his face with a hand, an ironic smile playing on his face. And he quiets after his laugh, waiting.

"Riku, Riku, Riku. What has _happened_ in the short time I've been gone?" I try my best not to look at him in disappointment and pity.

"On the way to Neverland I saw Sora's Gummi Ship being swallowed by a whale. I figured this was my chance to get him away from those anthromorphs. I had Hook drop anchor nearby the space whale while it slept and then I portal'ed inside of it. I found a puppet with a heart and thought, 'maybe he's the key to saving Kairi.' Since she has no heart now and all. I kidnapped and used the puppet to get Sora's attention. Sora came after me, we fought this Heartless I call Parasite Cage. I offered for him to join me, he refused and pulled that key on me. Seriously, why is he using a key? Parasite Cage appeared again and I ran back to the ship. Then Hook finally got us to Neverland. After searching the entire island three times over, I found Kairi in possession of some twerp calling himself Peter Pan and Hook's arch enemy. We captured him and this Wendy girl because there was a small chance she was one of the girls Maleficent's looking for. Then on the way back to the castle, we ran across Sora again, boarded his ship, brought him and his new friends onto here and I'm guessing you know the rest."

"Great story and all, but I meant what happened to _you_? You weren't like this before, or maybe you were and I just didn't notice." _So much for being observant_. I mutter the end of my sentence.

"I've actually thought about that. And I've come up with an idea." He closes the foot distance between us and pokes my collarbone. It's only then I realize we're about the same height, for now anyways. He'll be towering over me in less than a year. "You kept me sane. You're just about my age." _Actually I'm 16-going-on-17 and you're not 16 until December._ "You're a girl that has some sort of calming effect on people around you if you haven't noticed." _No, I haven't noticed that, especially me being a girl, this is _such_ a surprise._ "You're someone I can talk to without sounding completely ridiculous to myself." _Aww, that's sweet._ "And whenever I do go overboard, you slap me back into reality, literally. By the way, why do your slaps hurt more than when you hit me with your sword when we're sparring?"

"I'm more of a martial arts kind of person and I'm a noob with most weapons, especially swords." I shrug with my palms going up. "But what does any of that have to do with me keeping you sane?"

"I wasn't done. Most importantly, you being here is a good sign. The Witch separated us ten days ago, and yet you came back, and with no fans hanging off you. You didn't even want to leave. You are a better friend to me than Sora, that's how you kept me sane. You'll love Kairi when she wakes up. And she'll love you too. I'll show you her later, hopefully she'll be awake by then. But how was your mission? Have you reported back to Maleficent yet?"

_Better friend? How can I be a good friend if I'm keeping the full truth from you and you know it? You don't know anything about me._ "Uhh, it was fine, went to ten worlds." _You don't know where I'm from._ "There were some really cool ones." _You don't know that I know more about you than you do. _"We should go there someday...all of us." _There's so much I'd have to tell you for us to really be friends, isn't there?_ "Nah, I haven't reported in yet, trying to get some free time before I'm stuck in a room studying magic all-day long again."_ Any relationship is built on trust and honesty. There's plenty of trust between us, somehow. But there's almost no truth._ "But right now, I've got something to ask of you Riku." I turn and lean on the edge of the crow's nest, looking up at the sky and lowering my glasses a little.

"Yea?" He asks casually.

"Stop dreaming. You say I'm a good friend to you. Stop lying to yourself. We both know that we know probably nothing about each other but names and a few habits. Real friends know more than that. Sora knows all about your aunt, he's probably met her too. He knows all those embarrassing things that happened to you during school. Maybe you once pulled a prank that included hacking into the network system of your school's computers and randomly sending inappropriate messages at predetermined times. I wouldn't know if you ever did such a thing." _I should tell him, wouldn't do to string him along any longer. _I pause a moment to ready my words, somehow, I think he realizes I'm about to say something important. "Riku, I need to tell you something. Maybe you'll be afraid, maybe you'll even hate me, but according to all the stories, it's almost time for me to go back to my world... to my universe."

"The place you can't even call home, you mean?" He says wisely, unexpectedly, casually, and...naturally? Did he somehow suspect...? I'm sure the shock is clear on my face when I turn to face him, my glasses almost falling off. He looks me in the eye and gently pushes my glasses back into place. "...You left your journal lying around that day you talked with the Princesses and fell asleep there. Well, the time immediately after we caught Belle. It took me a few days to get used to the idea that in another universe I'm a video game character. I haven't read anything after or before that entry. I figured you probably wrote everything that happened in that game somewhere in that journal. Though it was tempting to read it, it probably wouldn't do me any good to know what might happen."

He read my journal. _He_ read my journal. _My_ journal. A book of secrets and all that. Thank goodness it was only that entry, what if he read anything else in there by accident? What if he read how I rambled on about Sephiroth? Or any of my plots about getting Riku, Sora, and Kairi safe and sound on the islands when all this was over? Or my dreams that I occasionally write, like the one where I dreamt of a sunset on a beach and three people running away from me? He invaded my privacy. Uh-uh, that's a _major_ no-no dearest Riku-chan! I shove him angrily. He expects it, so he lets it go I'm guessing. "Ever heard of invasion of privacy? You don't read a girl's private journal. Do you know what that word means? P-R-I-V-A-T-E, private, adjective. It means not for your eyes. It means, _no tocar_, no touching, _ei kosketa_, _nici o ating_!" I take a 5-second breath to calm myself, don't want to seem hysterical after all. "Why did you read it?"

"I was tired of you dancing around every question I asked. Once I read what little I did, I stopped asking questions I knew you wouldn't want to answer just so you wouldn't have to lie. All I ask is that from now on, if you answering a question would include you even referencing your old world, I want you to tell me with some sort of code-word. I know you probably don't want anyone else to know. Oh, and who else does know?" The crow's nest suddenly seems smaller.

"The Princesses, but that doesn't matter. Like I said, according to the stories, my time here is almost up. Back on my world, there are stories about the game, your game. Fanfiction they're called. Some are good, some are bad. Sometimes you may have heard me mutter something about a bad fanfic. I've said that because no matter what happens in these stories about the game, there are always stories with a person from my universe ending up in your universe. The same thing always seems to happen. It's a girl, she falls in love with the game, touches a glowing TV after messing around or after a storm, ends up on any of the worlds in either game, usually the first game. That's the one presently 'playing out.' When she enters the game, she hangs around with Sora, she falls in love with you, she's usually a Kairi-basher, erm, hater. She 'saves' you from this and that, you fall in love with her, Sora falls in love with her, and Kairi plays the part of dumb-witted damsel in distress that's jealous of her boys hanging off this girl. Let's call her Sue, Mary Sue." I start getting really into explaining the whole problem for why we can't really be friends. I use hand gestures and make sure to include every normal element of those stories until I get to the main part.

"So Mary Sue has a great time in the game and then when the final boss comes around, you, Sora, and her end up facing the turd. Usually, everyone that fights gets hurt pretty bad, except for Sue and whatever companions she's picked up along the way or brought into the game with her. So the boss-guy is dead, everyone's rejoicing, then something happens and Mary and her buddies are sent back home. Because, whoop-dee-do-da-day, her world wasn't destroyed like she claimed it was. And then everyone is heart-broken as she leaves. Now, since it's a video game with no clear sense of time, some of these stories last a few days, others last weeks, and the rarest ones last nearly a full year, but most of them seem to end in a month's time-span. Riku, how long have I been here?"

"Month and a half or so." He says doing a quick calculation in his head. "Where are we in the time-span now? Quarter through?"

"More like a quarter left. I'll be gone before school even thinks about starting up again. I don't want your friendship when I know I'm just gonna lose it by the month's end. I'm going back to the castle now, I'll let you think." I open a portal below the crow's nest that I could easily jump into. I hop on top of the edge of the crow's nest and look down, momentarily having a moment of fear and freezing. Riku takes advantage of this.

He grasps my arms tightly from behind, keeping me from going away. "Then while you are still here, at least pretend. If there's that little time left, why willingly suffer through loneliness? Keep that in mind, will ya?" I sigh and nod and he releases me, allowing me to drop into the portal below before closing it.

I didn't set a destination in mind when I opened the portal. I may have said I'd be going back to the castle, but the truth is, I need time to think. So upon going through the dark corridor, all I see is a literal dark corridor, the ones connecting the worlds together wherever this type of Darkness can reach them. I sit there on the floor, just staring at the inky blackness, wishing badly for someone to talk to that could explain everything for me, preferably someone that's gone through the whole inter-dimensional travel thing. Idly, my mind brings up the image of Amelia Earhart, a determined traveler of the skies that disappeared in one of the many Triangles. Everyone knows the rumors, that there's some wormhole or something in the air over some places. That she flew through it and traveled through time and space...

* * *

**AN://** If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	15. Greeting Fights Instead of Hellos

**AN://** So here's the other chapter I said was finished. These two chapters may seem a little iffy, I'm sorry if they do. Oh, and I forgot to say I got accepted into college! Yay! Now I just have to finish high school...

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that you recognize even in the most barest of ways.

Chapter 15: Greeting Fights Instead of Hellos

* * *

Hours later, I finally leave the Corridors of Darkness and enter the Chapel of Hollow Bastion. It didn't actually take me hours to travel there, but it took a while to finally get up and walk. Maleficent is waiting for me when I get there. I curtsy in greetings, "Mistress, I've done as you asked and found 8 willing servants to destroy Sora should he appear on each of their respective worlds."

"And what did you do afterwards, you should have been back long ago." She says cooly. I say nothing. "I know you went to Neverland. Your spell broke just as you were leaving young Riku. He was quite distraught when I went to him, and you seem so as well. Explain."

I wince when she says Riku's mental state wasn't that bright when I left. She apparently didn't ask him what was wrong, either that or she did and he said nothing. So I speak. "I wanted to say 'hi' before I came back, but he was different. His scent was darker and grittier, he was angry and jealous. He confused me, Mistress."

"Was it better to leave him confused as well? He will be here soon enough and he will have the power of the Heartless on his side. You will remain by my side until I tell you otherwise." I silently nod and move to her side, waiting. He arrives within miuntes.

"It was foolish of you to travel so far without a vessel." The witch tells Riku as he genuflects before her in exhaustion. He panting heavily, and a red-haired girl clothed in white and pale purple summer clothes is sprawled on the floor near him. I'm hidden in the shadows to the witch's left, waiting for acknowledgment from him or a command from my Mistress. _Whichever comes first_, I think with a bored sigh.

"I...I had to... _pant pant_... get Kairi out of there..." He replies, teeth grit in frustration

"The Heartless could have stolen your heart because of your recklessness--"

"It's already gone! The Heartless can't reach it from where it is now..." He interrupts her and is then interrupted by a loud, resounding, monstrous roar. "Huh?" He turns towards the sound for a moment and then turns back to Maleficent for an explanation. _That sounds familiar..._

"A castaway. Though his world perished, his heart did not. A bit like you both." She directs her eyes to me for a split second. In that same second, Riku realizes I'm here and flinches. "When we took the princess from his castle, he apparently followed her here through sheer force of will. But fear not. No harm will come to you. He is no match for either of your powers."

It seems as if he's forcing himself to ignore me or any mention of me. He doesn't ask what both of our apparent powers are, he only asks his.

She smiles gently. "Yes, the untapped power that lies within you. Now, child, it's time you awakened that power and realized your full potential." She raises her staff and a green glow surrounds Riku as his scent grows a little darker. His face shows that he's reveling in the feeling of whatever power was unlocked, very easily ignoring everyone and everything.

"What did you do?" He asks, the glow not leaving him.

"I simply unlocked your heart, allowing you to gain back that power which Sora has stolen from you. The power of the Keyblade, young Keyblade Master." Riku growls and clenches his fist at the mention of Sora. She turns slightly to me next and gestures that I should go out to stand next to him. I walk over to Riku and Kairi, quickly bend down to check her vital signs and then turn around to face the dark fairy, deciding that if Riku was going to ignore me, I'd ignore him for as long as he did.

"Do you not also wonder?" She asks. I decide I do wonder what she means by my power and tell her so. "As soon as possible, I will call the other Elders here and have them test you with a special test called the Magical Aptitude Test that a witchling of your age would normally take at the end of summer. It is why I have been drilling you constantly with spell after spell. You must know and successfully cast at least one spell of each of the basic elements, and ten spells of your chosen specialty. You have already been taught that and more. Once the other Elders deem you the proper Witch that we both know you are, they will grant you the knowledge of a great spell suitable to your caliber."

It doesn't seem like that much of a 'hidden power', I think pensively. _So instead of getting an awesome power, she tells me I have to take the magical equivalent of the SAT... just bloody great._ "How exciting Mistress, what did you learn when you passed the MAT?"

"Me?" She's says jovially. "I was taught to call upon the servants of my element. The Fire Sprites. Do you remember what they are from your lessons?"

"Maleficent! What are we gonna do about Sora? He'll be here soon enough and I need you to train me." Riku interjects rudely.

"Calm yourself, you have a few days at worst and another week at worst before he comes from the way you've tired him out. That Leon will no doubt force his ship to go back to Traverse Town should he try to come here before then."

"Fire Sprites are the spirits in every spark and flame. Fire magic is actually more than just throwing around a fireball, you have to talk to the spirits of Fire itself and ask that they help you reach your goal."

"Very good, Althea, and are there Sprites of other elements? What is possible when you truly master each element?"

"But I need to raise my Defense and Speed. Sora's gotten faster and I need to get even faster and stronger. And his new Keyblade looks pretty strong and has many sharp edges. It could rip through these clothes easily!"

"There are Sprites for every element. Basic Mastery of the elements allows someone to cast all the easy spells that the Sprites will allow the person to use without their help. True Mastery means that if you knew the spell for Meteor, the Sprites of Earth, Fire, Space, and Wind would help bring your spell to its full potential. Without True Mastery, the Meteor spell would be a bunch of pebbles even if your imagination and spatial sense can allow for larger." I recite with a little pride.

"Riku, if you are so insistent on training, then I will give something and order you to spar with Althea. Her orders will be to use all the magics and other strategies possible to slow you down and you will have to overcome them. The first with ten solid hits with his or her respective weapon, wins." Maleficent finally says with a sigh. Riku grumbles and agrees. She tells him how to call upon his Dark Suit. He takes a moment to try going into Dark Mode. He succeeds on his first attempt and immediately his sunny islander outfit is replaced in a flash of violet light with a skin-tight, darkly-colored, muscled suit with matching boots and red gloves. _Oh, and we can't forget his white hula skirt, heheheh._ I think with a mental giggle. "You will battle in here, I will be up there on the balcony, watching closely." She disappears in a burst of flames and Riku and I look up to see where she'll appear. Oh, another burst of flames! There's the balcony I never knew existed.

I turn to Riku and mentally take stock of everything I have on me. About 5 Hi-Potions, 2 Elixirs, 10 Ethers minimum, and my Heartless Earring Accessories which helps to boost my MP...uhh, did I just have a video game nerd moment? I blink in surprise. Maybe I'm suffering from withdrawal?

Riku pulls out Soul Eater and stands in his normal beginning battle pose. Left foot forward and pointed ahead, right foot back and pointed aside. Left hand out in front, palm down, right hand by his head, holding his sword high. His knees are bent. Seems to me he's not playing around. That means I won't have many chances to actually get in a hit and that I'll mainly be running away and blocking. I draw my sword, Night's Edge, and stand in a modified 8-point block position with my blade ready to block him should he choose to charge me and my legs ready to jump away if I can't block.

"Begin." Comes the command. Riku and I react at once.

I cast Hastega on myself and attempt to Slowga him. He charges at me at a speed more than he's normally capable of going. I frown at the apparent fact that he's not affected by Slow spells as well as Stop spells. Hopefully it's just taking a while to affect him. I block high and jump out of the way, throwing a simple fireball at him. He slices through it and sends a Dark Firaga my way. I cast Aeroga to bounce it back at him. He's already moved out of the way and charges again. I back away and throw a Blizzard at him. It freezes his sword in his hands and he charges a Fire spell to melt the ice. I cast more Blizzards, aiming at his feet and joints. He melts the ice around his hands but has yet to figure out how to reroute the Fire spell. I cautiously walk up to him until I'm 5 feet away. I hold up Night's Edge and will that it enter Chain Mode, I swing at him once with my extended weapon. Point.

"Already? Why, dear Riku, how could you allow her to attack you." Maleficent says to irritate him. I swear I see smoke coming out of his nose. I swing at him two more times, two more points for me. Maleficent speaks again. "I guess you don't really want to defeat Sora. If you can't even beat a girl whose specialties do not lie in the armed arts." Two more swings from my whip-like snake sword. I see the ice around Riku melting slowly. There's a glow starting to show around him. His aura's melting the ice. I cast a few more Blizzards and make sure to freeze his hands. "Not even 10 minutes and she has half her points and she isn't exhausted in the slightest. You seem to have lost your edge while playing pirate, hide & go seek, and savior. You should leave saving Kairi to Sora at this rate." What is she trying? He's getting really anger, judging by the growing puddle of water around him. I swing at him once more but the ice around him suddenly breaks from the force of his burning aura and he quickly brings his sword up to block the chain of my sword. The chain wraps around the blade and he pulls harshly back, successfully relieving me of my weapon.

He then screams up into the air with his arms up by his head as he unbelievably rises into the air. The aura around him grows dark and violent. "_DARK AURA!!_" He disappears and I stand there dumbly. When I played the game, I always admired this move, but now I'm about to start hating it. He appears above me and to my left and attacks me using falling momentum and his charging speed. I roll out of the way with Hastega thankfully still in effect. He lands gently on the ground, his skirt gracefully hovering for a second before he disappears again. This routine is continued about 6 more times.

The last time he does that, he throws in another move of his. "_DARK BARRAGE!!_" Before his attack strikes, I sigh in defeat. _Riku, honey, I so don't like your Dark Mode anymore_. His agility and speed is incredible as he attacks me at 10 times in a lightning-fast barrage. I fall to the ground on my back with cuts scattered across my arms and legs. They feel dead and jelly-like, nothing a few Potions or a Hi-Potion can't fix. Riku calmly cancels his dark attacks on me and drops his sword. He's breathing heavily from adrenaline and wonder. He's never done those moves before and he stares at his hands in amazement. He then falls to his knees beside me.

"That...that was..." He tries to say.

"Amazing, yeah...would you mind getting me...a Potion?" I finish for him, trying to regain my breath after having it knocked out of me.

He mutely nods, reaching for one of my many pockets and then stopping. "Which pocket...?"

"That one closest to you...and I kinda can't move my arms right now, so..." I trail off.

He nods again and pulls out a Potion from the desired pocket. He props me up and holds the bottle to my mouth. I drink slowly, not wanting to drink too much. My cuts heal and the leaden feeling in my limbs go away as well. Though I've stopped drinking, he still holds the bottle near my mouth. He's not ignoring me anymore, but is it because he's over what I've said or just because he's being mature about things and pretending? Only one way to find out. "Riku, were you angry for my earlier words?"

"No, just a little...sad."

"Are you better now?"

"Yeah, I thought over what you said. It makes sense, and I understand why you were angry at me for reading your journal. But even knowing all that and understanding your point of view, I don't care." He lowers his voice to the lowest whisper he can manage. He whispers so quietly, I can barely hear him. "_I still want to be your friend, even if it's only for a while. Besides, what if you're wrong and you never go back? Don't you want someone around?_"

I smile faintly at him and raise my hand to hit his shoulder. "Idiot, you're only setting yourself up for pain. Come on, get up. Time for Rounds 2, 3, 4, & 5. We're doing that exercise until I'm out of Ethers." I stand up and stretch a little, rolling my arms back and side-to-side.

"Shouldn't you have your fun after breakfast now that you've finally 'kissed and made-up'?" Maleficent calls down from her perch in a tone I almost think is jokingly. I swear that woman thinks I have something for her nephew. Why else would she be saying all these sayings that are suggestive?

"Sure, what's for breakfast?" I say instead of voicing my thoughts.

"Seeing as the majority of my partners have been done away with, I thought we'd go to Olympus Coliseum to visit Hades."

Riku speaks up. "So we're eating in the Underworld?"

"Heavens no, my boy. The customs of actually eating in another's home are so strict that I would never get my business done with quickly."

"What do you mean?" I ask. "What are the customs?"

"Men and women eat in separate rooms. The women's dining room is so far from the men's dining room in Hades's palace that we would have to remain an extra hour in that place. While in his world, we have to follow his customs. Not to mention I hate pork and red meat. That's all Hades serves in his palace." She scoffs indignantly.

"...What about...roasted duck?" I say after a moment. I look towards Riku and try to hide my smile. He smiles in laughter too. Apparently he caught my joke and remembers that time back in Traverse Town. Yeah, I think we could easily be actual friends now...

* * *

**AN://** So I've decided to add to the end of this chapter, the journal entry Riku read. It's pretty short considering the journal she keep is small and she wrote a page worth of words.

_Journal Entry begin_

Day 17,

So, I've been thinking, how long will I be in this universe before Destiny cruelly takes me away? Or will it be Fate that does it? I wish I could stay here longer, but...well, every story I read ends the same. With the OC going back to their world after the adventure's done, sometimes even before. And then the OC never sees her new friends again. I remember a couple where the OC loses her memory of her time in the KH Universe. I hope that doesn't happen to me, I love it here. It actually feels like home, not like my universe. Doesn't feel like home there. Riku's nothing like I imagined, neither is Maleficent. Dang it, why did I have to be stuck in a video game?! Well, actually, why'd I have to be stuck in a universe eerily similar to a video game back in my universe?

_Journal Entry end_

And now for the ending line that you all should be able to see to the end and if you don't then you should tell me that way I know to re-upload it because that means you didn't read the full chapter. If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	16. Wasting Time

**AN:/** Wow, it's the year anniversary today of the start of this story. And there's only 1 or 2 more regular chapters. I say 1 or 2 because I have the last chapter typed and the possible chapter in between this one and the last is written on paper. I could just publish the last chapter and end this story today, but I don't know if I should. Penny for your thoughts readers/subscribers/favoriters/random-people-that-just-stumbled-upon-the-story?

And now on a more personal note, my boyfriend duped me into letting him pay for our Prom tickets and I'm still amazed that he was able to trick me in the first place. XP

So Happy Birthday TIAG! *throws a party everyone is invited to*

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that you recognize even in the most barest of ways.

Chapter 16: Wasting Time

* * *

"So what's on today's agenda regarding the games?" I ask Phil, the short and stout satyr, while walking into the main building. Riku's by my side wearing a plain black hooded cloak as a disguise. The hood is up to cover his hair and face.

Phil turns away from the rule board. "Oh, it's you two again. Ehh, well, the Pegasus Cup starts today. Are you spectating again?"

I nod, mentally glad he hasn't tried to hit on me like he does to every female with two legs in the movie he's in. He waves us into the stadium stands without another word. We find a comfortable spot high up in the stands surrounded by a bunch of people. There's a vendor selling gyros, salads, hot dogs, and soda. We buy from him so we could have our breakfast finally. After the meeting with Hades, which seemed to last forever by the way, Maleficent said she would be busy arranging my test and that we had the rest of the day to ourselves. So we decided to watch the games since we had nothing better to do.

"Eric, did you get a look at the listing for the Pegasus Cup?" I casually ask using Riku's pseudo-name, just in case Sora or one of his friends are listening. You never know which walls have ears. Besides, just how many people in Greece have Japanese names?

"Why do you never enter the games? You can easily get a pass and I know you hate just sitting on the sidelines." He asks instead of answering.

I glare at him for his impromptu question but know he won't stop until he gets an answer. I juggle in my mind the different spells I could use so that no one would overhear me and in the end decide on Stop just as Sora and company enter the arena. I mutter the spell and watch as everyone but Riku and myself freeze in time. "Remember what you read in my journal about this universe being _eerily similar_ to a game I played back in my universe? Well because of something that happens later on in the year that I'd rather not say in the off-chance I'm around at that time, I'd rather not actually meet Sora. And if I enter the games, I'd eventually meet Sora whether or not I proceed far."

"Tell me why you can't meet Sora. Now." He demands.

I roll my eyes. "_Bloody demanding moron_. There's a person, well, there will be a person, who has control over memories. Most especially the memories of Sora and of people closely acquainted with him. I don't want to be subject to this person's power and there's less of a chance of this person messing with my mind if I don't actually meet Sora and am just a passerby as far as he's concerned." I make sure to not even mention the gender of the person. [1]

"What!" Riku exclaims. "But that means this person could mess with my memories!"

"Yeah, well, there's nothing we can do about that. The most we can hope for when this person comes around, is that you believe everything I say later on. I've been looking into memory spells and I haven't found a single thing yet. Well, besides, a fake-sounding spell apparently used by older people to remember things in their daily lives. It went something like:

_'Here I am,_

_forgetful as a lamb,_

_Once I was bright as the fox,_

_Help me be rid of my dementia praecox.' [2]_

"Actually, I probably forgot a verse or two. But that's the most I could find so far about memory. Now if you don't mind, I _want_ to watch the games. _Cancel_." I cancel the spell and look towards the entrance to the stadium, where Sora and co. finally get a chance to finish taking their steps. "Oh, nevermind, looks like that Sora kid is first up. Ten munny says he'll lose by the end of the Rank 3 match."

"Then I put 50 munny on him reaching Rank 2." Riku bites into his hot dog as Sora enters the arena and his opponents appear.

"And it's our upcoming stars on Team Sora versus Team Ghost Bandits[3]. Team Sora has Sora! Donald! And Goofy!" Phil screams into the megaphone, with the trio each waving to the adoring crowd. "On Team Ghost Bandits is a bunch of wacky guys! Two guys calling themselves Search Ghosts, someone called Bandit, and 3 people claiming to be Air Soldiers. You all ready for this? The first match of the Pegasus Cup starts... NOW!"

After defeating three Black Fungi and becoming Rank 4 in the competition, Sora and co. find it increasingly harder to win the games. Presently, Donald has been knocked out because a Black Fungi poisoned him; he's also surrounded by three Pot Spiders. Goofy also is K.O. Simply because none of their group equipped Potions beforehand. Sora appears to be magically exhausted and is being chased by five Barrel Spiders around the enclosed area. It appears that Sora is trying to reach Donald, possibly because he has all of their Ethers. It doesn't matter why Sora would try to reach his ally though. What does matter is that he was just tackled by two Pot Spiders and all of the Barrel Spiders. Sora yells and tries to get them off of him. The Barrel Spiders explode, leaving scorch marks on his skin and clothes, and the Pot Spiders prick and prod him gleefully. He falls face down to the ground, adding dirt to his burns, and he pulls out a white cloth on a stick. He starts weakly waving it and the barrier around the arena is removed. Hercules finishes off the Pot Spiders and pulls the junior heroes to the side.

I sigh and look at Riku. He's staring mournfully at his pocket. I hold out my hand and he reluctantly reaches into his pocket for 50 munny. He says half-heartedly as he hands over the munny."You must have cheated somehow."

"Yes, I looked into the future and saw him losing and then bet a low amount even though I knew I could get so much more." I say with heavy sarcasm. It's nearly sundown and it shows. The light blue morning and afternoon sky has started turning into the pinks and navy blues of evening. Phil told us that the games are usually done with five matches everyday, ending early enough for people to head back home before sundown, but that they had made an exception today because of a festival taking place later today to celebrate Kronia[4].

Riku watches the coming twilight as everyone around us starts to chatter amiably and leave the stadium. When everyone's gone, he stands up with a light-hearted face and turns to me. "Come on, Ally, let's go home. It's looks like I was worrying over nothing." He holds out his hand to me and I take it, using it as leverage to get up.

It's been three days since the start of the of the Pegasus Cup, starting day not included in the count. I helped Maleficent train Riku to the point where he would be quick enough to at least evade any magic spells thrown at him. Now I can't even freeze his hands together unless he lets me. He'll thrown a Dark Firaga as soon as either Maleficent or I throw a spell at him that is actually able to affect him. Meaning that the only way Sora could possibly hope to defeat him now is if he did a continuous chain of melee attacks. Riku's plan to counter that? Take back the Keyblade and leave Sora with a puny wooden sword.

I'm in the library, in front of another book, still trying to find any mention of memory spells. Sentinel and Mizu are both busy torturing— I mean playing with Riku. So that leaves little ol' me in a library with a bag of cookies, and clad in black pjs, when Maleficent walks in.

"Good news, my dear. The Elders are coming to test you in four days time." The fairy witch says jovially. I think a moment and suddenly remember:

"But Mistress, isn't Sora coming tomorrow?" That works out poorly for me if he is going to be here. Didn't Maleficent say that she needed to be here otherwise they wouldn't allow me to test? Sora is a day's journey away right now according to the Heartless. And if he comes here before I take my test, then I won't be a full-fledged witch! ...And I'd have to re-join her if it turns out I can't get back to my universe at all.

"Unfortunately so, otherwise I would have had them come today, but you need your rest for tomorrow-"

"But I'd rather take it ASAP. If the soonest they could be here is today then that's fine with me. I have plenty of energy and even if I wear myself out from the test Riku should be able to handle Sora easily. Then you'll have your keyhole revealed and everything. Not to mention I recover fast and even have a lot of magic ability stored away in me. Please, Mistress, please, let me take it today?" I try convincing her.

The dark fay takes my argument into account and relents, immediately disappearing to inform the Elders of the change. When I'm sure she's gone, I shriek in excitement. Never have I been so excited to take a test in my life. I close the book I was reading and didn't even know the name of, and then I rush to my hidden room to change out of my pajamas. After changing and stuffing my pockets with every Ether, Hi-Ether, and Mega-Ether I had stuck in the bureau, I head to the kitchen and find a short-tempered Riku covered in maple syrup and flour, with two "innocent" Heartless nearby.

I mutter the cleaning spell with a little wave of my hand and then cross my arms. "What happened here?" The Wyvern and Shadow look me, then each other, then Riku, then each other again, then me again, and then they point at each other. I give them a deadpan look. "Right, Riku?" He refuses to answer or even look at me. I look around at the kitchen and see measuring cups, salt, blueberries, flour, syrup, baking powder, sugar, milk, eggs, a griddle, a big bowl, and a spatula. "Well, it looks like someone was trying to make blueberry pancakes and two mischievous demons decided they didn't want pancakes. Guess what, you two? I wanted pancakes, but now I can't have any because there's not enough flour. Now what am I gonna eat?" I look around again and see bread and cinnamon sticks. "Hey, Riku, you know how to make French Toast?"

"Never heard of it."

"That's okay, I do." I roll up my sleeves and pull off my gloves, stuffing them into my pocket for the time being. I forgo the apron and start using Levitation spells to move all the ingredients I need around. Riku sits at the center counter island with Sentinel hovering over his left and Mizu sitting in the stool to his right. I Levitate everything but the bread, eggs, milk, cinnamon sticks, butter, and maple syrup away. Then I pull out everything else I need with more magic, a mixing bowl, a skillet, and a fork.

"What's with the magic show?"

"I'm taking my test today and I felt like doing this." I crush the cinnamon, beat the eggs, and mix them together with milk and sugar.

"Then shouldn't you be resting up?"

"Nah, I've got it covered. By the way, I've got something for you." I search through my pockets, trying to find the pendant and chain I had synthesized by the moogles in Traverse Town a while back. I feel a chain in one of my pockets and pull it and the attached pendant out. I toss it to Riku, who's obviously much better at catching than I am since I didn't even warn him and he still caught it. While he studies the necklace, I ready the skillet and start soaking pieces of bread in the gooey mixture.

The chain is Egyptian style, that means it's a bunch of 1cm width coils of silver wire that are linked together. The silver charm attached is in the shape of a Chinese dragon curled up around a pearlescent orb. "It's supposed to raise your defense against magic while also raising your magic power. You see that orb in the center? It glows a different color depending on what type of magic it absorbs before it bounces it back at whoever threw the spell at you. I tested it out too. At first I just put it on the floor and blasted spells at it. Then I gave it to a watching Defender and threw spell after spell at it, with increasing power. But I stopped before the -aga spells, didn't want to risk it."

"So that's why you disappeared for a whole day and came back with burnt clothes. Shouldn't you keep it though? Sounds like you'd need it for your test." Riku puts it on the table, in easy reach of me. I instead start frying the pieces of egg-cinnamon-sugar-milk-soaked bread.

"Uhm, actually, magical artifacts like that are illegal when taking the MAT. Besides, I made this for you. So you better take good care of it. Oh, and it's called the Dragon's Pendant." For a few minutes, the room is peacefully silent...if you ignore the sounds of frying bread. When the french toast is all cooked, I set up one platter and three smaller plates and bring the entire thing to the counter island, setting the platter in front of the dragon Heartless. "Alright, dig in, you guys!"

"Itadakimasu." Riku says before glancing over at Sentinel looking mournfully at the jug of maple syrup sitting near the fridge. "I think someone wants some syrup, Ally."

I look at both Heartless, one is cheerily eating his french toast without complaint and the other is gazing away hopefully. "Thanks for reminding me, I need some honey with this. Do you want anything with yours Riku? Some jelly perhaps? My dad always put strawberry jam on his, I never understood why." I get up and grab the syrup and honey and put it on the table. Riku serves Sentinel his syrup and answers that he doesn't want anything. So I sit back down and finally eat my french toast.

Halfway through our meal, we all hear the familiar _clickclack_ of a certain witch's heels, followed by muted shuffling noises. Probably some Heartless. "Mistress, are you planning on eating with us today? I made french toast." I call out without looking at the door behind me. Being too lazy to get up again, I mutter a levitation spell and make a plate fly out of the cupboard, hovering it near the stove. I then have two slices of french toast rise themselves out of the skillet and place themselves on the plate. The plate then zooms over to the doorway along with the jar of honey and bottle of syrup. "Honey or syrup? We also have jam."

The noises stop before the door. "Witchling, why are you exhausting yourself before the test? And turn around, the Elders are here." I turn around and see four people standing in the doorway to the kitchen. One is Maleficent, that much is obvious. Then there are three other people, one man and two women.

The man has a long white beard, although it's not nearly as long as Yen Sid's and Merlin's, and you can still see a little color in it. He's tall, skinny, and stands perfect grace. Dressed in billowing white robes and one of his hands holds a black staff with a large pearlescent gem. He has white hair, and strict brown eyes [5]. He stands to the left of both women.

The woman on the right is dressed in grey robes, although hers are fitted to her figure. And between you and me, she has no figure. She's fat, old, has wild obviously-dyed-black hair, and she's also tall. On the bright side, she has a kind face with foggy blue eyes. Maybe she's going blind?

And the last woman looks more like a businesswoman than a sorceress. She's my height, maybe, but her head is huge and her body is proportioned likewise. I'm not sure whether to call her fat or skinny, just huge. She's in a gaudy blue dress with gaudy jewelry on every finger and around her neck. Her white hair is in a bun on her head eye color is a dim brown and the eyes themselves are calculating.

Oh great, I should have realized the Council of Magic would send Saruman and Yubaba. Who was the third one again? ...I think the book Maleficent had me read said her name was Jezzebel. Whom is of course not from any sort of fiction I know about. Geez, why couldn't they send Gandalf and Zeniba instead? Oh yeah, because they're the _good_ guys and my teacher is a _bad_ guy...girl...whatever!

* * *

**AN:/ **So we have some references I think everyone is aware of, and we have some references some people probably weren't aware of, and the absolute last chapter will just be copy-pasted excerpts from the entire story with each reference explained. Except for the ones listed here:

[1] In the case that some of you can't tell, Althea is talking about Naminé.

[2] Dementia praecox, also known as Schizophrenia. Oh, and I completely made up the spell.

[3] I actually checked to see who the opponents were in each match.

[4] Kronia was a harvest festival that took place in July, the month was also known as Hecatombaion. It was in honor of Kronos, the god of agriculture.

[5] I honestly don't know the guy's eye color. My boyfriend would freak if he knew that since he's such a LOTR fan.

If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	17. Time to take my MAT

**AN:/** The long-awaited MAT chapter, for those who forgot, the Magical Aptitude Test, the magic equivalent to American SATs. Really, I'm sorry for the long wait, I can promise though that the story will end before August 23, the start of school down here in Florida. I start college then, yay. Oh, and I got a puppy about two months ago (read: beginning of summer), her name Lilynette (Lily) and she's very tiresome and troublesome and too smart and adorable for her own good. She unlocked her pen and ran all the way to my room! Anywho! (And that's not a real word so don't use it!) One review, whether flame or praise will prompt me to post the next chapter. I'll post the next one before I even read the review. Tootles! For now...

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize it, I don't own it, unless of course my idea was similiar to someone else's by complete coincidence. I definitely own Jezzebel and the random idea about Mozenrath. Trust me, I just asked my friend for a reason why Mozenrath couldn't be outright trusted to tell the absolute truth and my friend said "Well maybe they're dating."

Chapter 17: Time to take my MAT

* * *

"How about we go to the Castle Chapel, there's more room there?" Maleficent says while conjuring up a Corridor of Darkness. The six of us walk in and arrive there in silence. I wait patiently for the Elders to say anything. But of course, the three of them have to circle me like a hawk and evaluate me. I really don't see why they have to do that. What can they possibly be able to tell about me just by circling me?

"I'm guessing this child is this student you asked us to test. Hmm, awfully small and scrawny." The Head Elder soon says. I try my best not to death glare in her general direction. I don't need a sorceress to tell me I'm short. "Very well, I guess she'll do, based just on her aura, nothing else about her tells me she's good with magic. Not even any stress marks from studying for too long. Girl, come here."

Forgot trying not glare, I am glaring now, and I'm pretty sure my eye is twitching. This lady is so... insufferable! "My name, madame, is Althea." I struggle to say nicely...keyword being struggle. I walk up to her.

"Seeing as you've already shown adept control of levitation of inanimate objects, I want you to levitate that boy and carry him around in the air while we do the other tests." She completely ignored what I said! I turn to Riku with pursed lips. He rolls his eyes and flicks my forehead.

"It's fine, go ahead. I can catch myself if you accidentally drop me." I nod and mutter the levitation spell on Riku. I slowly lift him into the air, inwardly hoping this test doesn't take too long. I don't exactly know my limits since Maleficent would hit me over the head with her staff if I didn't regularly drink an Ether.

The dark fairy gestures in the general direction of the only male Elder. "This is Lord Saruman-" Maleficent starts.

"Of Middle-Earth, one of three Elders of Darkness. Sorceress Yubaba of the ABURAYA Bathhouse, the Head Elder of Darkness. And Lady Jezzebel of one of the many Earths, the last Elder of Darkness. I remember from my books Mistress."

"What else do you know of our history?" Jezzebel asks, and Althea indulges her with a short history of each of their worlds and their accomplishments. "If nothing else, Maleficent, your apprentice has an able mind of a scholar. However, indulge me, who is the boy and what is his purpose here?"

Maleficent presses her lips together a moment. "That doesn't matter, he is simply my ward and a friend of Althea's."

"I sense power from him, magic power, though it is quite small compared to the girl." Saruman narrows his eyes as he speaks.

"You aren't teaching him, are you?" Yubaba cackles, "you know the consequences."

"Let me assure you that the only person I've been teaching is Althea. I'm well aware of the consequences. You can ask Vizier Jafar-" Maleficent is interrupted yet again. No one here seems to hold her in high enough regards to not interrupt her. How sad.

"He's a genie now and no one can find his lamp." Yubaba says dryly.

"Then Lord Hades or Ursula's sister Morgana. Both can vouch for me. As can Mozenrath of Agrabah."

"Mozenrath is your suitor, Morgana is terrified of you, Hades is your only alibi." Jezzebel wonders aloud while I silently wonder about the fact that Maleficent actually has a social life.

"My servant Pete, he's too dumb to lie."

"_Hmph!_ Very well, we will investigate this after her test." Yubaba subsides.

"Althea, was it? Now you must show basic manipulation of the four basic elements. Light this candle, put it out, hit these targets with lightning, then avoid being hit with these using air. You have 10 minutes, begin." Saruman

I pull out Night's Edge and call out the first spell, making sure to aim.

I pass the first three easily. But in the fourth part, I also make sure none of the projectiles hit Riku.

"Give me your hand." Yubaba says, I do so and she cuts my palm. "Heal that to the best of your ability." I heal the cut until there is no scar and wipe away the blood. The trio exchange looks of contemplation.

"Stop time on that boy for as long as you can." Saruman says.

"Uhm, he's kinda immune to Time magic, well, I haven't tried Hastega yet, but no other Time spell works."

"Maleficent, bring in one of your Heartless." Ironically enough, she calls in a Wizard Heartless. "Cast your strongest Stop spell on both the Heartless and the boy." I do so. The Wizard stops completely whereas Riku just sighs and sends a '_told ya so_' look to the Elders. Saruman makes a quick pushing motion with his right hand towards Riku, possibly casting a Time spell of his own. Still no effect.

"In case you can't tell, that was Stoppaja, the Heartless won't move until dinner at least. Time and Space magic is my specialty."

"I see... seeing as we don't have the time for proper potion-making, except for potions of the Vvardenfell variety, recite the ingredients and procedures for Health Potions, Ethers, Elixirs, and five other concoctions you can make." I recite what he asked along with the recipes for the Agrabahian Fire Shield, Wonderland's Growing Potion and the accompanying Shrinking Potion, the Pixie's Flight Potion, and the Atlantean Burn Ointment. "Very good, do you have any items you've enchanted?"

I pluck off my Heartless Earrings and call to Riku, who thought way ahead of me and was already digging into his pockets. "Here's your Dragon Pendant, Ninja Headband, and what was this called again.?" He tosses down his necklace, a headband, and a paper crane. I drop Night's Edge for now and it disappears in smoke.

"Messenger Crane, I actually forgot about that one. And these are called the Heartless earrings." I give the four items to Jezzebel whom examines them and passes them on to her accomplices.

"Was this the first you made? It's quite simple, an adaption of a common spell in the Wizarding World." Jezzebel looks over the crane.

"This pendant is quite advanced." Saruman murmurs.

"These earrings are a novelty, they do nothing." Yubaba scoffs.

"The headband is fashionable and useful." Jezzebel grins.

"Explain how you made the pendant." An evil sorcerer that takes orders from an eye demands.

"Well, I don't have the tools for actual metalworking so I convinced the moogles in Traverse Town to help me. I designed the physical aspect, gave them all the materials, and they made it with materials susceptible to enchantments. Then I took wire to make the chain and loaded enchantments onto every inch as I curled and pressed it into links. I used reflect spells of every magnitude I know. Spells to keep it from breaking. Cleaning spells to keep it in the best condition magically possible. Into the pendant itself, Breakage-Canceling spells, cleaning spells, and a triple-intertwined detection-absorption-reflection spell. But the triple spell only activates to its full potential when a base detection spell gives the ok." I grin, I really do love the pendant. I worked hard on it.

"Yes, I see that, but I can't see who the pendant is synchronized for." Well of course not, I'm quite paranoid about stuff like that.

"Oh yeah, the cloaking spell. I put that as a just in case, the necklace was made for a particular person, but I don't want anyone to know who it is meant to protect. Just in case that person leaves it lying around somewhere where their enemy could be hidden. The base detection spells, for instance, check for similar magical, auric, and power signatures to the ones first detected when the first two people put it on. It will even detect when those signatures grow or shrink for whatever reason. It's taken me all of my apprenticeship to perfect the spells. So many prototypes ended up destroyed by the backlash."

I see Riku's eyebrows raise by the end of my explanation. "That explains all of the explosions I've been hearing since I got here but couldn't find a trace of."

"Actually, most of those explosions were me trying to learn the basic elements. I'm really quite bad at them. May I drink an Ether now? I'm really tired."

"No you cannot, we're testing your endurance. Lift him higher. Now demonstrate 5 spells we have yet to ask of you." _Testing my endurance? How come the book never said that? I brought all of these potions for no reason!_

I sigh at Saruman's demand and mentally choose spells that are less mentally draining. "_Chameleon_." I fade into my surroundings and walk around, picking up the candle I used for my Fire and Water/Blizzard demonstration earlier. I shake it around, flip it, twirl it, and toss it in the air before catching it and canceling the spell.

"_Warp_." I add a little flair to my small area teleportation by spinning clockwise as I and the candle disappear and am still spinning clockwise when I fade in before them, candle still in hand. I take a small bow and put the candlestick down.

"_Clean._" I point to the scattered projectiles and the melted wax and the blood stain on me. The projectiles all disappear and reappear nicely arranged where they originally were. The wax disappears, leaving the scent of cinnamon, as does the blood stain.

"_Haste._" I point to a dark spot in the corner where a curious Shadow had been watching ever since I first cast the Fire spell on the candle. I noticed him when I suddenly saw yellow-orange eyes that seemed more vibrant than a regular Shadow's. I waved to him to come forward and he practically ran over to us in our perspective even though Shadows usually don't run. Then I gave him the candle and whispered for him to go back to hiding from the powerful magic users.

"And for my last one, a parlour trick!" I reach into my pocket and pull out a collapsible top hat lined with Aetherspace material. _I love that stuff, makes everything so much easier, gotta thank the Moogles for finding it for me._ I flip out the hat to its original form and pass it around. "Pick out one item from the hat, there's a crystal ball, tarot cards, a pack of ordinary playing cards from a 1960s America, a rat I found scurrying around in the castle, and a plushie I call Fairy Godmoose."

Saruman pulls out the rat by its tail. Jezzebel takes out the plushie. Yubaba frowns as she pulls out the Tarot cards. I pull out Night's Edge and point at the plushie, fun spells first I always say. "_Animate!_ Bring me my hat, would you, love?"

The plush toy jumps outs of Jezzebel's hands and snatches my hat from Yubaba. 'She' returns to me with a sewn-on grin. "That's a good Fairy Godmoose, now jump back in so I don't lose you." The plushie puts the hat on the ground and leaps in.

I point at the rat squirming in Saruman's grip. "Be nice now, _calm!_" The rat stops struggling immediately and Saruman puts him down. He scurries around a little, trying to figure out what to do. Then Fairy Godmoose sticks 'her' head out of my hat and whistles at the rat to gain his attention. He runs to the hat and jumps in. The plushie puts her head back in and I pick up my hat and fold it before putting it away. "You know, it's actually kinda cute when it's not trying to bite off my hand. Anyways, Sorceress Yubaba, you pulled out the Tarot cards, I guess I'm supposed to scry your future now, huh?" We go to the center of the Chapel and Maleficent's little altar rises up out of the stone floorings..

"You know what you're supposed to do, right? Shuffle the cards, then put them on the table." She does so and I mentally note how good it feels to tell her to do something for a change. I gaze warily and wearily at Riku as well. It's getting to be harder and harder to keep him up there; I'm glad scrying spells don't need a lot of magic to work. He sees my look and braces himself for a fall. I cut the deck and silently ask that it shows a modified future on the off-chance I get to visit Aburaya Bathhouse within a year's time. I then lay out the cards in a seven card cross with four extra cards off to the corners to represent the elements.

I then flip the cards one by one. "There was a troublesome person at your bathhouse that you've since turned into a loyal slave. There will be yet another troublesome person coming soon, and unless you get outside help, this person will steal away your slave. There will be betrayal of kin if this person meets any of your family. There will be a promise you must keep, if you don't, you will lose everything. The outside help you will not be able to control and so you must be wary for this 'help' will do things according to his or her own agenda." _Okay, so the story stays pretty much the same._

"Hmph, Haku would never leave me. You need to work on your scrying skills." Yubaba says confidently.

"The cards are known to lie." _But of course every fan of your story knows what I've just predicted will come true._ "How many more tests are there? I feel as if I'm to collapse." I slowly gather the cards and pocket them, cursing the fact that there are no chairs in this room and start walking away from the table.

"That was the last. Now we discuss if you pass and are a certified witch and what spell we will teach you before we leave. Maleficent take your apprentice and ward and wait outside. We may be in here a while, so bring meals at the appropriate times." Saruman says with a strange look in his eyes.

I close my eyes, feeling my levitation spell give way to gravity. I hear a warping sound as I start to fall to my knees. But I'm caught before I actually hit the marble. That would have left a major bruise for a while. I feel strangely-textured gloves on me and know that Riku used his new-found dark abilities to help me. Then I'm standing and mentally demanding my body walk the long trek to the doorway. Riku is by my side, ready to catch me again. Both of us, along with the witch, leave the room.

"Sentinel!" Riku calls as soon as we're out of sight. I hear more warping sounds. "Carry her." He helps me onto the Wyvern's back. How coincidental, he's returning my first favor that he wasn't even awake to see.

"We must get her down to the kitchens; because of how much magic she used that stemmed purely from her own self, if we give her Potions and Ethers we'll be seeing random, uncontrolled acts of magic. That is, of course, if Potions and Ethers even have any effect on her at this point."

I open my eyes and look at her, "is that why you made me promise to down an Ether after every ten minor spells and 3 major ones even if I wasn't feeling drained yet? And how long were we in there, I kinda lost track of time. Hahaha, time, that's funny 'cause I'm a Chrono-Spatialmancer."

"Of course, it's all a part of the test. They were to drain you of your magic and if you survive the first day after the test, then you officially become an accomplished witch. As you should have read, some fledgling witches and wizards have died after their test. We entered the Chapel at about 9am and it is now 5pm. You were very detailed in your explanations, they took up most of the time."

"What about the spell I'm supposed to learn?"

"You will be taught it by dinner. Believe me Althea, as soon as you walked out that door, you were no longer my apprentice but a witch that can stand on her own." _Did she just compliment me?_ She then smirks, "although, any fairy student wouldn't have collapsed or needed someone to practically carry her out."

"Mistress!"

"Maleficent, to you now."

"You're mean."

"I _am_ the Mistress of All Evil, young Althea."

"We're here, do you think you can walk or should Sentinel warp you in?"

I blink at Riku's question and realize we're in front of the kitchens. _When did that get there?_ "I'd rather walk in, catch me if I fall when getting off though, if you would." Riku helps me off Sentinel's back and the dragon warps away. To where, the world may never know. I just want to know why every Heartless is acting weird today.

"Riku, why don't you go back and ask the Elders what they would like to eat. It is well past lunchtime and none of us have eaten since breakfast." Maleficent says randomly. I'm pretty sure they said that we should just bring up food.

Riku still has a hand on my elbow and doesn't seems like he wants to let go. "Riku, if you dare try to treat me like a fragile little girl,, I'll light your pants on fire, and remember, I'm not too in control of my magic right now so I might burn something else. Accidentally, of course." I smile sweetly and a little sadistically.

He immediately lets go of me and covers himself while grimacing. "Fine." He stalks off in the direction we came from. I wait a few minutes in silence with Maleficent. It's obvious to me that she wants to say something she doesn't want Riku to hear. Finally she speaks whereas I'm leaning on the wall. "You really should have him start addressing you properly, especially if you plan on making him your loyal servant as is logical from how much time you two spend together. Pete started out that way, always followed me every where after I accidentally released him from the prison that foolish King put him in."

"Why would I do that? He's my friend. If I needed a servant, I'd make one. Or I'd buy a slave from Vvardenfell." _And free him or her immediately, then buy another one and repeat the process._ "Now tell me what this is really about."

"Riku is a smart boy," Maleficent begins with a hint of pride. "He will soon figure out the truth about him, so I've tightened the spell preventing you and Pete from saying anything at all about him being my nephew to anyone even telepathically. Until of course, he knows or I perish, and the latter will never happen." _Until tomorrow evening_, I think, _of course, I'm not sure I would want to tell him anyways_.

"When will you tell him?"

"When you find your new home. I might as well say this now. Althea, now that you aren't my apprentice anymore, there are certain rules we must follow. Unless you work for me, you may not stay here with Riku and I. And seeing as you never showed actual interest in ruling the universe, I have to assume you'll be finding a new place to live. A world where you'll be able to make a name for yourself. If this is the path you choose, you will have one week to find your new home and if you so choose, I will help you. You may tell me your answer once Sora is defeated tomorrow." She nods to herself.

"Ok, anything else?" _How does she know me so well?_

"Yes, wait out here for Riku while I get the Heartless started on dinner, we'll eat in the dining room." I nod in affirmative as she walks into the kitchen. I then sigh.

_I'd rather leave her service now that she's taught me all she could. But where would I go? And how safe would I be? Then again, the game's almost over; all of those fanfiction say I'll be back home once that happens. And by my calculations, school will start up again the day after the final battle, which is probably in about a week, and I still haven't done my summer reading! Ugh! Not to mention my birthday is tomorrow and I'm not even getting any presents or an ultra chocolate cake._ I pout to myself and sigh resignedly.

"How long have you known?" A soft voice whispers directly in my ear. I blink and realize Riku came back and is now very, very, very close to me in an effort not to be heard. I can see his emotions so clearly, but with my glasses on, it's hurting my eyes. I lower my glasses. "Known what?"

"About Maleficent! And me being related to her! I heard everything, A few steps out of your sight, I remembered I could just use a portal so I did, when I came back you two had started talking about servants. Did she let me live just because I'm her nephew, or did she figure that out after she discovered I'm the real Keyblade Master?" He's confused and getting a little hysterical.

"Agrabah." I whisper back to him, neither of us lets our voice get very high, but Riku does move back to give me more space. "She told me when she visited us in Agrabah. She's known for a while before then. But after we both arrived in this world and were safe and sound in our room. It was definitely sometime between Wonderland and Snow White's world."

"I see...and you're leaving?" He mutters next.

"Not without you or Kairi if I can help it. I promised you before you read my journal. And if we do end up being separated, I'll at least tell you where I am, promise."

"We both know you'll leave. I'll leave too once Kairi wakes up, only the Keyblade can restore her heart. I have to wait until Sora comes, then the three of us, you, me, and Kairi, can leave and find some other world."

"What about Destiny Islands? Won't you find a way to bring it back?"

He's silent for a moment, in an almost shameful kind of way. "No, I wanted to leave for a reason other than what I told Sora and Kairi. Except for them and Aunt Mei Lin, I hated everyone and almost everything on those islands. I got so tired of the whispers, so sick and tired of only a few people actually accepting me as a person. Nearly everything on the islands reminded me of someone I hated. I couldn't stand it there anymore. I'll miss my tree of course, but why bring back a world I hate just so I can have a tree? And if my aunt is still alive, I'll search every world for her. But, everyone dies when the Heartless destroy a world, I've learned that by now. Anyone that didn't make it out died that night or is a Heartless. But that's just as bad."

"It's clear that you've been thinking about this a lot. The longer a world is in complete Darkness, the less it's like its former self, same thing with people that turn into Heartless. If you suddenly decide later on that you want to bring it back, it will be harder because of this. Are you sure about the choice you're making?" I ask him, making a mental note to figure out how to bring people back from the Heartless state. _I know a Princess of Heart can hug a Heartless..._

"Yes, I was sure when I let the Darkness take me away, and I'm sure about this."

"Then I'll set up a safe house for you on a couple worlds far away from a certain fairy's eyes. I'll send a Messenger Crane with the locations once each is ready. Even if I never see you again, I want to make sure you're safe, like I've been doing since you got and I found you all bloodied up."

He mocks growls, "I could wipe the floor with you any day! So don't imply I'm weak."

"I could literally wipe the floor with you. I could even make you mop the floor in a little dress with a spell I learned in Vvardenfell after threatening a local mage to make him teach me. You may be immensely physically stronger than me, but my magic at least equals your strength."

"Is that why you made me this?" He gestures at his neck where I see a lightly shimmering chain. When did I give that back? I must be more tired than I thought I was.

"I wanted to make sure a magician wouldn't be able to overpower you with a few simple parlour tricks. Some of the greatest warriors fell because of a magician. Unless you're talking about Achilles, he fell because his mother wasn't thorough in her spell, she was actually kinda dumb if you think about it. All she had to do was completely drop him in the water for a second, but no, she had to fear for his life and hold onto his ankle as she dipped him in water that would make him impervious wherever it touched his skin. But, anyways, then I found out you were part fay. When I found that out, I knew I needed to add even more enchantments because fairies are weak to magic, even more than humans. Especially the dark fay and the royals of faykind."

"How can someone that uses magic be weak to it?" He asks in amazement.

Suddenly, the door opens. "Is he back yet? Oh, there you are, well come along you two. The Tonberries already have the table set. What did the Elders want?"

"They didn't let me in."

Maleficent rolls her eyes and shoos Riku to the dining room. "What were you whispering about? I only heard that last sentence he said."

I mentally cheer, grateful the hidden muffling charms on Riku's necklace and my earrings actually work the way I intended. "He thought he saw a tiny flying pixie. Then I said that that was impossible since most tiny pixies stay away from places with more than one powerful magic user; he asked why. Then I told him they're weak to magic, then he asked that question you heard. Oh yeah, why are the Heartless acting weird today?"

"Pixies aren't the only ones that hide when more than one powerful being are in a small area. Why were you whispering?"

"I dunno, maybe since it's fun?" I shrug nonchalantly.

"Alright, now get to your seat."

The three of us eat a really late lunch/slightly early dinner/"linner" and the Elders soon come in and sit with us when we're halfway through the meal. Riku and I make movements to give our seats closer to the head of the table to them but Maleficent glares at us and we sit back down. The Tonberries ask what Yubaba, Saruman, and Jezzebel want to eat and then go back to the kitchens. I see a random Shadow wave at me from the kitchens and smile when I realize his eyes are a little green. Mizu, haven't seen him since the morning. Riku and I play Rock, Paper, Scissors under the table while waiting for the Elders to say anything. An hour passes in relative silence. Then Jezzebel wipes her mouth and speaks. "Well that was a pleasant dinner. I think it's time we break the suspense. Yubaba?"

Said person harrumphs and puts down her chopsticks. "We've decided you're a good enough witch to pass the test. Seeing as we couldn't decide on a singular spell to teach you_,_ we'll each give you an opportunity to learn from us. In the future, should you ever stop by the ABURAYA Bathhouse, my apprentice and I will help you with your transformation magic. As I'm sure you know, every magical being has some sort of alternate form. Maleficent is a dragon. I myself am a bird. Jezzebel is some sort of fish. Saruman keeps his alternate form a closely guarded secret. And we'll soon discover what you are when you drop by." _Transmutation might be more fun. I'll have to find Ed's world_. I think before Saruman then speaks.

"Stop in Middle-Earth and I will teach you destruction spells, especially the infamous Meteor. Every since Sephiroth, there's never been a Magician of Darkness with enough power or drive to learn this spell." _Awesome! I'm gonna learn Meteor! I must only use this power for good...like taking out all of my enemies at once._ Jezzebel then speaks.

"Seeing as you're already quite advanced at Spatial Spells, you'll have to settle for an item instead. You'll receive my gift later, either find my world or wait two weeks for it to appear before you. I sent in the order just an hour ago."

"But what if I'm not here?"

"Oh pish-posh! My transportation spells can cross universes if necessary to find the target." She winks, I blink, Yubaba reminds her that there's only one universe and that the multiverse theory was created by _baka_ scientists. Yubaba says scientists like a curse word and _baka_ meant 'idiot' last I check. The Elders soon leave and I leave the table with all remaining eyes on me. Three Heartless wait in the shadows. One witch has a staff slightly extended. And one islander is clad in his Dark Suit, ready to jump out of his seat. I sigh, knowing they expect me to collapse at any moment. It seems they forgot it's now 7pm and we've been sitting down this whole time. I think I've rested enough to walk to the library. I open the door and proceed to trip over a random bucket.

Riku proves to be the fastest of the groups when he catches my hand and pulls me back before I hit the ground. Two Shadows prove to be the next fastest as they appear in the exact spot I would have fallen had Riku not caught me. One Shadow has twinkling yellow-green eyes. The other has yellow-orange eyes. I glare at the bucket. "Who leaves a freaking bucket in front of a door?" The Wyvern Heartless picks up the bucket. I call out before he warps away with it. "Sentinel, drop that bucket now! I'm flaming it! _Fire!_" Sentinel drops it milliseconds before I try setting it on fire. He also quickly warps away from the bucket. And it's a good thing he did too. Instead of what I intended to be a low-level spell, the bucket imploded into shrapnel and flaming bits and pieces. Thankfully, Maleficent realized what I was about to do before I did it and called a bunch of Wizards into the room to help her cast a scattered, really high-level Dark Protega spell around everyone. I decide I won't use magic until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest and the day after tomorrow at the latest.

"Perhaps Riku should help you to your room?" Maleficent says when the fire starts to settle and Blue Rhapsodies warp in to put out the fire while Red Nocturnes bathe in the fire and absorb as much as they can. The Nocturnes steadily grow bigger as they absorb the heat and their coloration starts changing.

"Heck no! I can walk, I just didn't see that bucket." I exclaim. I refuse to be treated like a child.

"That's because you usually teleport anywhere more than 100 feet away. Your room is at least 500 meters from here, not including the twists and turns in the distance covered by the Lift System. Do you even remember the way?" I stay silent. I hate when she's right...

* * *

Oh, and here's a link to a picture of the arrangement Althea used for Yubaba, take away the spaces and parentheses. (http:/ twilightprincess76. deviantart. com/ art/ TarotArrangement-from-CH17TIAG-175211930) If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	18. Rikunort is such a BEEPBEEEEP!

**AN:/** Well, that was quick, I take five minutes to check my mail and I see something saying "Review Alert." Well as promised, here's the chapter. Now I have to get back to preparing for the meteor shower tonight.

**Disclaimer:** *pulls out a hypnosis pendant* I own nothing you recognize...you will not sue me if an idea of mine is similiar to yours...clap three times and rub your belly and pat your head

Chapter 18: Rikunort is such a ^$*##*#%

* * *

_Why is it suddenly cold? And what's that noise?_ I grope around with my hand and feel no blankets on me. I remember pulling up the blankets last night, so I open my eyes to look for them. I immediately see two Heartless holding my comforter and jumping up and down excitedly. Well, Mizu is jumping up and down, Sentinel is reared back on his hind legs and flapping his wings.

I grumble as I steal back my comforter and lie down again, attempting to go back to sleep. Upon realizing what day it is, Sentinel and Mizu's excited jumps and flapping suddenly have a possible meaning. I bolt back up, this time fully awake. Sentinel stares at me, as if I should be able to tell what's going on just by reading his eyes. Mizu pulls my blankets off of me again.

When Sentinel realizes I still don't understand what he's trying to tell me, he looks around the room and sees the magic lamp. He then sharply looks at Mizu, whom snaps to attention as they silently communicate. The tiny Shadow then crawls over to the lamp and brings it to me. On a whim, I call out Amani, whom appears in her normal purple cloud.

"Yes, Master?"

"Can you understand what they're saying?"

Amani looks at them, sees their wild gestures, and somehow understands them. "They want you to wish for the ability to speak to Heartless."

"Alright, done, why didn't I wish for that sooner?"

"Uhm, there is a slight problem though, I can't just _give_ you that ability; the Black King is very picky about who can learn to understand his creatures. You'd have to give up a similar ability. But abilities of Darkness can't just float around in the Aetherspace of the Realms, so you would have to choose someone for me to give that ability to, and it has to be someone already with a dark ability. Rules and all that, you know?"

"I'll give it to Riku of course. Amani, I wish to gain the ability to speak with and understand all manner of Heartless in exchange for giving up my keen sense of smell towards the forces that make up the multiverse to Riku."

"Geez, girl, you always loophole-proof what you say, don't you? As you have wished it to be, Master."

The scents that I've had to get used to ever since appearing in Traverse Town suddenly disappear, and in it's place is a screaming assault echoing through the castle before reaching my ears. I blink a few times and cover my ears for a minute or two, waiting for them to get used to the noisy cacophony. _Why would the Heartless be screaming_, I momentarily wonder. "How do any of you sleep at night?"

"**It's usually much quieter than this. Unless of course Myde is practicing his singing.**"

I blink some more in amazement and uncover my ears, not sure if I heard the Wyvern right. At least, I think it was Sentinel that spoke. "Did you say Myde?"

"**Uhhuh, that's my real name, and he's Ienzo.**" The Shadow jumps up and down.

"By every higher power of the multiverse, are you really-?" They nod. "Holy he-"

"**I know this surprises you Princess, but we really don't have the time. Your boyfriend is in a bit of trouble.**"

"One, I'm no princess. Two, I don't have a boyfriend."

"**He meant Riku, That's how he's always calling you, Ally. He calls you Princess. And Riku is always either Princess's Boytoy, Boyfriend, Knight, Dark Prince, Twilight Prince. And Ienzo once called him Royal Loser.**"

"Royal Loser, haha. Wait, did you say he was in trouble? Amani, mind going back to your lamp for a while?" Amani disappears for the time being and I put her lamp under my pillow. "Alright, where is he?"

"**In the Hall, fighting Sora, Donald, and Goofy.**"

I'm out the door before he finishes and they follow me out. I realize what the scream from earlier are when we leave the library and enter the Entrance Hall. Riku probably called on the Heartless to help him and they're dying quickly as Sora plows through them. "We need to get these Heartless outta there. What made him call the Heartless?"

"**He didn't, he doesn't know how to keep them away and they're drawn to the Keyblade. He's mainly getting tired from trying not to hurt us.**"

I think a moment and hide behind a pillar and then call out. "Heartless, fall back! _Now!_ Riku, I'm sorry for pulling them back, but you need to beat Sora on your own strength!." The screams stop as every Heartless is forced outside of the Entrance Hall for the time being..

"Who was that?" Says a normally cheerful voice.

"Do ya think that was Maleficent?" Says a dumb-sounding and calm voice.

"That witch would never say sorry for anything!" Quaked the duck.

I don't know if any person of their group is actively looking for me, but at least I know they won't be able to find me because of Sent— Ienzo's bulky draconic figure. The duo were forced out too. I peek out at the battle and see Donald wearing down and possibly down to his last spell. I put out my hand, about to fire a Fire spell at the duck, no pun intended, but then both the duck and the human junior hero shoot lightning at Riku. I grin sadistically because I already know what will happen. I didn't exactly say how the necklace would protect Riku from magic, did I?

Two different Thunder spells aim for Riku. They appear to connect, until you realize the spells were absorbed by a force-field tightly enclosing him. Then the two attacks are rebounded to their respective spellcasters with nearly double the previous strength. Riku himself only blinks. Donald is immediately knocked out and Sora hits the floor for a few moments. He then carefully gets up. "Donald!" He cries out. "Goofy, do you have anymore Potions?"

"Sorry, I'm all out, Donald is too."

"Dang it." Sora turns to Riku and attacks him again. A few moments later and Goofy is sent to the floor in a dizzy spell. Riku's getting slower and I see him looking around the room carefully. He spies me hiding behind a column with a raised hand ready to cast any spell necessary to help him win. He pushes Sora away and leans forward a little, panting, as his Dark Suit disappears.

"Ienzo," I whisper and the Wyvern appears, "grab Riku and teleport him to the High Tower, then meet me in my room and take me there too." Ienzo silently flies over to Sora and Riku and nosedives at Sora, forcing him further back. Then Ienzo gracefully turns heel and flies to Riku. Riku hops on his back, holding tight as the Heartless swirls backward and teleports away. As Sora puzzles over where Riku went, and the Entrance door opens, allowing the Beast to enter the room once more, I summon some of the tougher Heartless to drive them out for now.

I then enter the library and call for Myde and his three Shadow friends. "I need you to block the passageways in the Library, but let me get to my room first. Stay hidden, but let let the Keyblade boy and his friends get anywhere near my room, ok?"

"**You got it boss!**" "**Gotcha Ally!**" "**This should be fun...**" "**Do we get candy if we do a good job?**" I giggle at the quartet's reaction and nod at the last question. They exclaim happily and get to work as I run to the bookshelf hiding my room. I remove the appropriate book and see Ienzo waiting inside when the wall opens. "Oh yeah, Mizu, Ienzo, make sure nothing of mine or Riku's is still in the library. Ienzo, come back here and help them when you drop me off. Okay, let's go."

I hang onto Ienzo and he transports me just outside the Castle Chapel. Ienzo then disappears in a swirl of Darkness. Being outside the Castle Chapel reminds me what might be going on inside. It's been at least a minute, a minute is all Xehanort needed to possess Riku in the game. What if he's been turned into Rikunort by now? I guess I'll have to take that chance, I think as I walk through the Chapel door. I see Riku hunched over and glowing green. I panic and call his name. "Riku!"

He turns around and grins evilly at me. "**Althea, how nice to see you. What perfect timing**_**.**_" He starts walking towards me as his Dark Suit appears once more. Riku's earlier exhaustion is gone, not even a hint of it left. I hesitate. His expression is so...cold and callous. "Timing?"

"**Yes, I needed someone to test out my new powers on. You like games don't you? I propose we play... tag, I'll be the chaser, try not to let me win too quickly.**" Yep, that's Rikunort alright, I think while drawing Night's Edge. Now how do I get out of this mess? I'm still half-dead from yesterday. I could try calling for the Heartless but they're all surrounding Sora. Where's Pete when you need him? Oh yeah, Maleficent sent him somewhere. And Maleficent is probably in her room watching Sora with her scrying stone, completely ignoring me. Oh! The Princesses! "_Fire!_" I yell at Rikunort, already knowing it won't hurt him. An orange fireball shoots at Rikunort, he flinches, not knowing it will be reflected at twice the power. Then the spell is absorbed by Riku's necklace and Rikunort smirks as my spell is bounced back at me. By that time, I've already cast Reflega. The now huge flaming ball keeps on bouncing between us, the bright orange light temporarily blinding anyone looking at it, aka Rikunort, as I run away to the Princesses with my back turned to my enemy.

I enter their prisonhold and turn to Cinderella, already readying the appropriate spell to release them from their cells. "Sora's here, your majesties. And Riku's not acting himself. Run if you want when I unlock your doors, but please consider helping me tie him down. Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, Alice? Please?"

"**Well, well, well, so this is where the Princesses of Heart were being kept? And it seems I've caught you as well, dear Althea. Game over.**" I turn around quickly and am met with his hands around my throat. I try yelling at him, but my voice box is cut off. "All of you will do as I say or else I'll kill her and this foolish boy I inhabit. Witchling, unlock the cages. Princesses, leave the safety of your cages." He says smoothly.

I glare at him and curse him in my mind, keeping my mouth firmly closed and my hands scratching at his own. He apparently doesn't like the delay and so slams me against the cage door of Cinderella, the cold metal bars digging into my skin. I never thought it would hurt this much to get slammed against a wall, I'm starting to see stars. Or are those Paopu fruit and Angelstar heartless? Resignedly, I raise my hand, pointing towards the cell doors and try muttering the spell. It's hard, but somehow I manage to squeak out the words. "_Unlock the chains... that bind these persons... to their cages..._" Sometimes I wonder why the spell to release captives from here is a chant, but then I remember a lot of people used to chant to cast any spell. And some people still do on a daily basis. Each door cracks open a bit and the Princesses push open their doors completely, murmuring amongst themselves.

"**Good, now walk out there, and don't try to run or she's losing her Heart**_**.**_" The six Princesses follow Rikunort's command and walk out of the Royal Jail. Rikunort then proceeds to call upon the Darkness to bind my hands together, keeping one of his hands on my throat the entire time. At least he's letting me breathe... slightly. It's getting very hard to think here. He then walks me out off the Royal Jail as well. The Princesses immediately quiet, though I was able to catch remnants of their conversation. Sounded like Cinderella and Aurora were convincing the others to go along with everything for mine and Riku's sake. "Alright, now you see those capsules against the wall? Each of you get in one."

The four older Princesses help the two younger ones into their capsules. Then Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, and Jasmine look at Rikunort. "We'll get in if you give her back the necklace your host wears. She gave it to him as a sign of her friendship and loyalty. You are not Riku and therefore can't wear the necklace very long anyways without the curse activating." Aurora says.

"**Curse?**" Rikunort looks down at the necklace.

"Yes," Belle begins, "she's very good at curses, though she doesn't cast them often."

"Normally, the necklace would reflect every spell and overall protect the wearer. But she made the necklace only accept Riku's auric and mental signature." Cinderella says.

"**What is this curse?**" Yeah, what's this curse, I don't remember putting a curse on it.

"You will become a slave to Riku. All wearers of the necklace will become the eternal slave to whomever gave them the necklace. Since Riku wore it when you possessed him, he was the last to touch it and so will be your master when the curse activates." Jasmine says.

"**How long until the curse activates?**" Rikunort asks in a strange tone, his voice still doing that strange doubling thing. Or maybe that's the effect from no oxygen, after all, I do see little black dots everywhere.

"She wouldn't tell us, and she probably can't think well enough to tell you now." Aurora says calmly. Can't think well enough? Well I _am_ wondering why you guys made up a story about a simple necklace. Rikunort places the necklace around my neck after a few moments. The Princess enter their capsules.

"**_Hearts_ _of_ _these_ _Princesses_ _of_ _Light,_ _come_ _to_ **_**me!**"_ Six balls of light shoot out from the Princesses and align themselves in front of Rikunort and myself. The Princesses fall into a deep sleep moments later. Tendrils of Darkness wrap around the Hearts and condense, forming the red-handled, black-bladed Dark Keyblade of Hearts. Rikunort finally lets go of me, but he immediately holds his new weapon to my back and forces me to walk back into the Royal Jail. I force myself to breathe deeply and not fall over as the dots slowly disperse from my vision. "**I was going to dispose of you, but those foolish Princesses gave me another idea. I'll lock you into one of these cells for a while, and then when the curse activates, I'll let you out and you'll be my personal sorceress by then. I was watching you yesterday at your test, I know what you're capable of, and I'll teach you even more.**"

He shoves me into the second to last cell on the right and my bonds dissipate into threads of Darkness as the door closes. I glare at him until he leaves, then I sigh and look at my cage for the time being. I almost forgot how color-variant my bedroom was back on Earth. Dark furniture and sheets, and tri-coloured wall because I had color-ADD and could never decided if I want blue, purple, or crème walls. Urgh... now what? I left Amani's lamp in the library, and she's the only one that might have a chance of setting me free.

I turn to the window on the back-wall, intending to look out of it to pass the time. To my great surprise, it's completely black with some weird grey swirls floating past. "That's strange, only when the person's homeworld doesn't exist anymore does the window show a blank screen... hmm, then again it's a modified scrying stone. Maybe Ansem's ancestors didn't account for other universes? Yeah that's it, has to be it..." I mumble quietly and turn away, trying to think of some other way to pass the time. But then a female voice interrupts my moping.

"Actually, they didn't, but I fixed that when I was stuck down there for a while after my friends pranked me." I stop and turn back to the blackened window now with a lightly smiling, pale, blue-haired face.

"I'm Aqua. You must be one of the Queens or Princesses. That's the only way you would be able to see into the Dark Realm." I stare blankly at her. Aqua? Queen? Princess? Who the heck is this person and what is she going on about.?

"Oh, let me guess! Hmm, the boy who put you in here, I sensed a powerful dark aura suppressing a powerful twilight one, the boy in his true form is probably the Grey King and he looked like the boy Terra talked about, so he's the new Keyblade Master, right? It's hard to sense your aura, you're probably still a Princess. And you were saying your world was in another universe... Aha! You're the Grey Princess!" This lady is probably crazy, but she's talking about something the Cheshire Cat and the Princesses of Heart were hinting about, so I'll give her some sanity points.

"I'm not a Princess. Although Riku might be this Grey King, he does end up following the 'twilit road to dawn' after Castle Oblivion." Aqua looks surprised at what I just said.

"You're a seer?"

"No, no, I just know that some things will happen no matter what has changed since I came here. When Riku is freed from Xehanort's Heartless's control, he uses his dark powers to help his friends, most of which live in the Light. Minus me, I've lived in the shadows of Darkness since I got to this universe."

"But you can't be the Black Princess, she's supposed to come from the shadows of this universe. Only the Grey Princess comes from another universe."

"But I'm not a princess in the first place."

"Is there anyone else that's called you Princess, and I don't mean jokingly." I shut my mouth, knowing there have been a few people to call me such. Cheshire Cat, the oldest Princesses of Heart, Ienzo.

"In fact, I think I might be have been the Black Queen of my generation but I won't know unless I get out of here and talk with Yen Sid. When you get out of here, you should do the same, and take Riku with you."

"Black Queen? And you're stuck in the Realm of Darkness, does that mean a guy stuck there could be the Black King?"

"It could,but you're the first person I've seen in nine years."

"Do you know a guy named Ansem? According to some rumors, he might be stuck there."

"If he is the Black King, then I'm glad that it's usually only the White Royals that marry their counterparts. There's the occasional time in the history books when the Grey Royals marry each other, but only sometimes and the Black Royals never marry each other."

"...You're a hopeless romantic, aren't you?"

"Yep! I remember when I visited this world called Destiny Islands and learned about the legend of the Paopu Fruit. Do you want to hear it?"

I take a moment to guess how long I'll be in here. It will probably take Sora three hours to get up here and fight Rikunort. Then maybe another 20 minutes, maybe 30, until Roxas and Naminé are 'born' Less Heartless will follow them after that, so they'll take an hour and a half max to get down to the Library. With their hearts back, the Princesses should be able to break out of their capsules during that time since I may have sabotaged the capsules a little. So four hours? "Actually, mind telling me as many stories as you can for four hours? After that the Princesses of Heart should be able to free me. Then I'll..."

* * *

**AN:/** For all accounts and purposes, this is the last chapter. but there's still a "clean-up" chapter, preview chapter, and as I like to call it, an allusions chapter.

If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	19. Epilogue: Wrapping Things Up

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything even barely recognizable

Epilogue: Wrapping Things Up

* * *

"Oh, Althea, are you alright? As soon as we were free we felt such a strong dark presence. We watched as some smiling man disappeared into the Darkness that escaped the Keyhole. That happened a few minutes ago."

"He calls himself Ansem," I say as the Princesses fumble with the lock and a keyring to every door in the upper half of Hollow Bastion. It seems Alice remembered where I told her the emergency keys were. "It's the one labeled '8'. I'm perfectly fine, but I owe you girls an explanation about what's going on." I explain everything to them, making sure to say Riku was possessed and that I would be bringing him back to his sanity once 'Ansem' is defeated.

"What do you mean?"

"Once 'Ansem' is defeated, he'll still be haunting Riku. If he can't learn to live with Ansem in his head, he'll be possessed by his inner Darkness and go crazy. Riku once told me that I helped keep him sane. I've witnessed his slight craziness from no friends when I went away for a while. Until I can get him home with his friends, I'll take care of his mind."

The Princesses are silent for a moment, mulling over this information. Cinderella then surprises me, "So you've figured out that you won't be going back to your universe?"

I'm startled and think for a moment, realizing that after talking with Aqua, learning all she would tell me and swapping stories, I had begun to believe I'd never see my hometown again. "So it seems," I answer her, "I'll have to get used to living here if Yen Sid says I'm stuck."

"Oh but this is really such a nice universe. What other universe has the Cheshire Cat? Or treats that can make you grow bigger or smaller?" Alice says childishly.

"Or seven little dwarfs that mine all day and live in forests?" Snow White smiles.

"Or a prince with a curse that turned him into a beast?" Says Belle.

"Or real genies?" Jasmine.

"Or glass slippers and a Fairy Godmother?" Cinderella.

"Or magic in general? Believe me, if you didn't belong here, Princess Althea, you wouldn't even be able to see the magic here." Aurora.

"So it's best you find a place to live now that you're an independent witch. And remember, if you ever see her crow around, forget her or she'll rise again." Cinderella.

"She already will come back, a year from now, but she won't be much of a threat for a while, and don't tell anyone or else our heroes won't be able to focus on the current threat. And if I'm right, most of you won't be in personal trouble for a little more than a year." I say.

"What do you mean?" Alice asks.

"You'll see, I only know some things that'll happen from now in, once my mentor finds a new castle, I'll start scrying the future daily."

They all exchange looks. "Alright, bon voyage Althea, I hope we'll meet again."

"Actually I need to head to the library first to pick up my friends. And you girls better follow me to a safe place while you try to hold back the Darkness. The Heartless are staying away for now because I'm here, but soon enough they'll ignore me until the keyhole is closed. Once Sora closes it, you'll be free to wander the castle under my protection. The Heartless here will listen to my orders even more now that I can hear them. The Chapel and the Library will remain Heartless-free though."

"Oh, the library? May I go with you?" Belle asks.

"Of course, just promise me you won't do anything to my friends."'

Belle and I leave the others in the Castle Chapel and walk to the Library. Despite what Maleficent said yesterday about me not remembering my way around the castle, I do know my way as long as the destination was in the game. So Belle and I make our way to the library fairly quickly. We pass by scurrying Shadows and growling Defenders and grinning Darkballs and sleepy Wizards whom all snap to attention while we're in their areas. Upon reaching the Library doors, we quickly enter and meet a Wyvern and his two closest Shadow friends. Belle cries out in surprise. "I thought you said this area was Heartless-free?"

"Yeah, unless I call them in here. According to a loose page I found from Ansem the Wise's Journal, he was tired of the Heartless barging in during Mass or looking over his shoulder in the library or watching him in the bathroom, that he created a spell to keep the Heartless out of the room designated in the spell unless there was an emergency or he called a few in for whatever reason."

"Oh, we could use that spell on the entire castle then?" Belle says brightly, unknowing of the reactions of the three Heartless present.

"**What? Nobody kicks me out of my father's library!**_"_

"**Nuh-uh! I'd lose my lighters.**_"  
_

"**And I'd lose my pool!**_" _Myde yells in despair. _  
_

"**DON'T LET HER CAST THAT SPELL!**_" _The three of them demand_  
_

"Father? Ansem the Wise is your father? Kairi's your sister?" I turn to Ienzo.

"**Well, I was adopted by him less than a year before the invasion. And Kairi was always with Grandmama or Yuffie and wasn't interested in studying the Heartless.**_"_

"Wow, how old were you?"

"**I think I was 7, maybe 8.**_"_

"So young, woah. Anyways, Belle, we can't cast that spell for two reasons. One, this is Ienzo's world and even though he's a Heartless now, he's still sane. You can't banish a prince from his castle without due reason. And two, the spell wasn't named or even really described in the paper. In other words, only Ansem knows the spell and I don't think he'd be willing to share."

"That Heartless is a prince? You can understand them?"

"Yeah, I had some help learning. Allow me to introduce my friends. Prince Ienzo, son of Ansem the Wise, whom is the ruler of Hollow Bastion, older brother to Princess Kairi, whom as you know is the Seventh Princess of Heart. By the way, how do you determine what number you all are? Myde here..."

"_I was a singer, surfer, and Elvis-lover on one of the Earths, I lived in Hawaii and that blue thing you occasionally see in the castle is Stitch, he comes from my world."_

"Sang and surfed in Hawaii, he's the one with the slightly blue-green eyes. And this last guy..."

"_Lea. L-E-A. We haven't really met yet. I'm a pyro, love frisbees, lived in this place all my life, and I'm 25 this year."_

"Is a resident of Hollow Bastion and is turning 25 this year. His name is Princess Leia." Myde and Ienzo laugh.

"Oh, um, I'm not sure actually about that. I think it has to do with when we learned about other worlds. And it's a pleasure to meet you all." Belle assumes about my earlier question.

"_LEA!"_

"Whatever floats your boat Leia."

"_LEA!"_

"Fine, Princess Lee. Anyways, I leave you to your books Belle, I've got work to do. You coming with, Leia?"

"_Lea, and yes."_

I open a portal of Darkness and let my companions enter before I do. I flash a peace sign to a very confused Belle before disappearing into the Darkness. And so ends my first adventure, time for a break.

* * *

Stay tuned for the EXTRAS :D. If you like it, review. If you don't like it, don't review. If you're lazy, just refresh the page so the hit count goes up signifying, to me, that you liked it.


	20. EXTRA: Preview, stay tuned for Allusions

**AN:/ **So here's the Sequel Preview first, I'll post the Allusions tomorrow, I want to give people a little time to read 517 words. And there are some sentences where you have to really think about who could've said something. Oh, and the title so far is Finding Twilit Paths. I'd give you readers the option to help me choose if I knew you would actually vote.

* * *

"Riku, this is Ienzo, Kairi's brother. Namine, I guess he's your half-brother of sorts, but you probably already knew that."

...

"Who is she?"

"She?"

"Yes, that girl in your memories, Althea. Who is she to you?"

"...A friend."

...

"Namine's of no further use. Dispose of her...Ansem."

...

"You idiot! You insufferable idiot! Ienzo, hold me before I rip him a new one."

...

"The Gates to Oblivion close on Thursday, you'd best hurry, little witch."

"...Myde! Find me Castle Oblivion and I promise I'll bake you a cake so big and covered in chocolate it would take you days to finish."

"Really? Okay!"

...

"I see you've finally come, well, at least you knocked, unlike that brat that was in here not five minutes. At least you don't smell too human, you must have been practicing your magic lately."

"Yes, actually. Ever since Maleficent, you know, I've had to find my own place and set up my position. For some reason, the people on my new world think the Heartless are a type of summoned beast a necromancer uses."

"You're continuing with the Heartless? How surprising..."

...

"No use hiding there, girl. Your type of magic stands out in this world. Are you ready to learn Meteor?"

...

"Axel, what is love?"

...

"Xion! Please come back!"

...

"That Keyblade is a fake."

"No it's not!" *sobs*

"Riku, you're being too hard on her. Come on, Xion, ignore what meanie Riku says."

"Ally? When did you-? How did you-? I-! Uh...I'm lost."

...

"So, Ienzo, how's it feel to be yourself again?"

"Kinda weird, two sets of memory and all that...your Nobody tried to kill me."

"What? I'd never try to kill pipsqueak Ienzo. You're too adorable to kill."

"Uhh, guys, don't Nobodies have, like, no emotions and stuff like that?"

...

"I wonder how Maleficent's doing without me? Sure wish I could go back to find out, but she said I was on an important mission. Gotta deliver these Heartless to all the worlds on this list. *sighs* Only 83 more days to go."

...

"Yen Sid, uhh, Master Yen Sid, I have an important question to ask you."

...

"Hmm, I wonder if that girl was right about Ansem the Wise being stuck here too..."

...

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for any of this!"

"Suck it up, princess. You know you meant it all. Why else would you go along with it."

...

"I really wish Repliku didn't have to die. Maybe I can try saving him while here."

...

"You're getting attached to the experiment."

"Watch it, Isa."

...

"Why can't I remember? I know there was a boy that I drew pictures with, but I know it wasn't Riku. Who was it?"

...

"Woah, woah, woah, did you seriously try to bite Riku after trying a Glamour spell on him that didn't seem to work?"

* * *

**AN:/ **No reviews necessary this chapter. Just read and wait a day for the update.


	21. EXTRA: Allusions

**In all honesty, this is my favorite chapter

* * *

**

**Chapter 1**

I've been having these strange thoughts lately. Like is any of this for real or not? Famous line, who doesn't know it? Said at the beginning of the game

Murphy's Law of course dictates that when something can go wrong, it will. Did you know it's not really Murphy's Law? Murphy stole it, from whom, I can't remember

and I've probably just jinxed myself. Murphy's Law

Sorry ma'am, but I follow the old rules of courtesy in which in one offers their own name before asking for another's. It is proper etiquette to introduce yourself before you ask someone else's name, any book on etiquette should be able to tell you this

would some _disembodied_ _voice_ tell you these things? :P The Disembodied Voice!

**Chapter 2**

Decisions, decisions. Isn't there a way I could do both? Originally, the story was going to go a little differently here, my original intention was to keep her as a completely neutral person that ended up having to learn magic on her own. There was a particularly funny line in the original draft that I unfortunately couldn't carry over. And if you're wondering what made me change the story, well, let's just say my muse and my character ganged up on me and tied me up so that they could write the story, not me

It's a snake sword; a sword that can partly come apart and be used as a whip. Soul Caliber reference, Ivy's wicked :3

_Night's Edge_ I think it's pretty self-explanatory when you think about it, but just for the people that don't want to think. It could mean either Dawn or Dusk in terms of time. Dawn of course representing a type of Twilight that leaves Darkness and embraces Light, but not fully. And Dusk being the opposite, the type of Twilight that leaves Light and embraces Darkness, but not fully. Being from the "Real Earth" as we'll call it, she's a Twilight Being. And seeing as her life was mostly sunshine and daisies in her universe, we'll call her a Dusk Twilight. Then there's the fact that it's a sword, a weapon, an "edge" if you will. And the next fact that she's hanging around people of Darkness and that she wears dark clothes even in Agrabah AND that she chose to follow Maleficent instead of going to hang around the beloved Hero, let's assume she's a follower of Darkness, not Evil, Darkness. Night therefore is a synonym for Darkness. Her weapon was made of Darkness for someone that uses Darkness. Darkness' Weapon. And in the future, she'll likely gain a new weapon, but it won't be a Keyblade, Goodness no, there are already too many Keyblades

I feel a slight burning on my eyes and I lightly shake my head, immediately hearing a soft jingle coming from my ears. Strange, I don't remember putting on earrings this morning. In the era Maleficent is from, people commonly branded their property. When it came to the magic-folk and their subjects on the other hand, the branding would be something removable when the subjects were being branded. And the branding could only be taken off with the ok of the person who placed it there. Remember, magic-folk changed sides often.

Best not to tell her now that I can possibly smell the Darkness. After all, what if she decided to exploit that ability? I only really gave her this ability so that she could exchange it later on for an ability I appreciated more. Seriously, who wants to be able to smell _everything_? And how else could Riku have gained that ability without realizing?

it is actually a well-lit hallway, though lit with red light instead of white or yellow Scientifically proven that red light is a good transition from bright light to no light. It's also said to be better for our eyes, not to mention it makes things look bloody and cool :3

After looking what seems like everywhere for a chair I could easily take out of the room, I turn defeated towards the door and see such a chair Murphy's Law, always in the last place you look, and you always find it once you've given up.

**Chapter 3**

Name's Althea, Althea Gloxinia, like the flower. Althea means healer, as said in the first chapter. And the meaning of the gloxinia flower is "love at first sight." So for everyone thinking I might have a RikuXAlthea pairing, you're right. It's one of my original plans for this story. BUT, if my characters decide they're just really good friends, then don't blame me if you were looking for some romance. I'll give you some Sokai instead no matter what happens with Riku and Althea.

I say referencing the stench of Darkness still clinging to him. If it's still there when the spell is cast, then I'll know it's his personal Darkness and therefore a part of his personal scent I've heard multiple times that underneath all of the gunk we put on ourselves is a natural scent that describes the person and that no one else has. I decided to use that thought in my story. Even though Althea doesn't have super-scent anymore, Riku and Zexion and the Heartless still do, and I'm switching POVs for the next story. First person POV was way too hard to do, I think I even slipped once or twice.

I should of thought of something cooler...like _Scourgify._ Harry Potter for the win! The books, not the movies though.

Actually smells more like," I take a sniff of my shirt, "jasmine and hibiscus flowers..." Jasmine flowers mean, depending on the color, folly, glee, amiability, cheerfulness, timidity and modesty. Hibiscus means delicate beauty. I went to a site that explained the meanings of different plants and randomly picked two.

"See? No flowers, only cinnamon and cedar leaves." _And a faint trace of Darkness_. Cinnamon means love and beauty. Cedar leaves mean "I live for thee." I figured they fit Riku quite well, especially the cedar leaves. Riku works so hard for his friends. He lives for them.

"Lucky guess! I mean you do _look _like a Riku." Line almost completely taken from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories on the GBA. Cid says it, claims Sora looks like a Sora.

Probably one of your little witchy secrets. This statement is actually a little racist against magic-users. He's calling everyone that uses magic a witch and in most island nations, witches have many secrets, sometimes are ugly, are very powerful, and are extremely scary.

Riku Ankokutai, Sora Uwano, and Kairi Shimachou. _Ankokutairiku_ is roughly translated as The Dark Continent. _Ankoku_ roughly means darkness. When _tai_ is added, it can mean "crowned with darkness" or "receiver of darkness." _Shima _roughly means island. _Chou_ means butterfly but it can also mean "government office" and "head of an office." _Uwanosora _is very accurate I believe for describing sora, it means inattention or absent-mindedness.

**Chapter 4**

"Oh my! What have we here? The new generation's very essence of Change. A pleasure to finally meet you my Princess. ...And what's this? The future Grey King? Now what are _you_ doing here? Doesn't your Mistress know that _he's_ here?" My theory is that the elements have mortal counterparts for every genreation. By elements, I mean the basic elements. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Spirit, and Change. Not many groups consider Change an element, but I do, and I consider it the most important because it's a part of every element. And when Cheshire says, "doesn't your Mistress know that _he's_ here," he means Sora, of course. And to learn more about the Grey King, you'll have to wait for someone in the story to say it.

"Well, Gypsy Girl, your people created me, so I honor them and yourself as royals." By "your people," I don't mean the Roma/Gypsy, I mean the people of her world. My theory of the Multiverse is that every universe has magic, but the magic in our universe is mostly directed towards the stories we make, the movies we film, the songs we write, the artwork we make, and everything else creative. And that through these creative aspects, we each create a new world or universe exactly as we have depicted.

"Besides, you _are_ the new Mutable user, and will become _Queen_ soon enough just as your Mistress's Mistress the Fairy Queen became." Once again, Mutable user means the Change Elemental. And the Fairy Queen mentioned is Queen Mab. There are actually quite a few spoilers in this little sentence, so I won't explain much.

"Well, you certainly are a pawn of the shadows at the moment, Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, I love my chess puns and references,

The duck is screeching something at Sora and Goofy is searching his pockets. The card soldiers are scattered about but behind one I see a head of spiky brown hair. I dig through my pockets for some curatives as I dash over to Goofy. I place two Elixirs and a Hi-Potion in his hands and run over to Sora. Quickly I observe what was about to happen. Sora was about to be cleaved in half by the ace of hearts card soldier. I grab the keyblade and move it into a blocking position while moving Sora himself back a bit. I take the card's weapon and position it so that it would miss entirely. Then I move his helmet over his eyes What would you do if you walked in on such a scene frozen in time? The same thing I had Althea do? Or something different. I'm really quite interested in hearing

Guess I didn't stop Time completely, either that or the person is immune to the spell because of one reason or another For future reference, time magic_ barely_, works on the Princesses of Heart or the mortal elements.

**Chapter 5**

Guess he's immune to Time magic Hint, hint, nudge nudge.

Did I mention said meadow is full of bright green grass and colorful flowers and a young girl of about fourteen years in a colorful get-up leaning over my mud-covered form curiously as I stare blankly up at her? In actuality, Snow White was seven years old when her story ran through and seven years old when she married the prince. Normally, I'd kept the details as real as possible, but for this, I just couldn't make myself do that. So I made her age somewhere between her real age and the Disney age. And older than Alice since I wanted Alice to be the youngest.

**Chapter 6**

Vanilla? No, tastes more like...some sort of fruit. In my story, Elixirs taste like whatever you think is the taste of that warm comforting feeling of love. Could be any kind of love, friendship, maternal, paternal, sibling, romantic. Althea figures love is like the taste of Vanilla, and Riku thinks love tastes like Paopu fruit, but he's never had a Paopu fruit so he himself doesn't know what the Elixirs tastes like.

**Chapter 7**

Only Zeusie-boy actually had a chance of actually knowing Gaia and he didn't take it. Greek mythology reference, Hades and all of his siblings (minus Zeus) were swallowed by their father Chrono/Crono/whatever. Zeus was saved by his mother and the fact that his father was an idiot. But Zeus never knew anything about his mother besides her name since he wasn't allowed anywhere near Mount Olympus for fear of being killed.

Hellfire Club I've heard this name in a couple places and I decided it was a good name, so in Althea's universe, it's Fanon.

I never even knew her. Or my father. They're both dead. We don't know if he actually has parents that are alive and well. But using Psychology as my excuse, the way Riku acts makes me think of a foster child that was moved around a lot and got tired of his life

_Red in the morning, that's a good sailing. Red in the evening, better stay keeping_ It's actually, Red at Night, Sailor's Delight, Red in the Morn, Sailors take Warn

**Chapter 8**

She can really pack a punch, that girl Reference to when Belle elbowed Xaldin in the stomach and took back the rose. That scene was epic.

There's also a spell cast over the room, no one that enters ages whilst inside. How else could Cinderella and Aurora look exactly the same in two games that are 10 years apart.

They were probably some of the younger kids on this world when it fell. Although Sentinel is quite elegant and bookish so maybe he lived in the castle when it wasn't so dreary. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. Isa, Ienzo, Lea, Yuffie, Kairi, Aerith, Squa—Leon, Cloud, Zack, Tifa, Rinoa. To name a few.

"We prefer it like this..." Riku starts. "...It's more comfortable."I finish. She smiles darkly. "I see, do as you please. It is your room, after all." Almost direct line from the manga by Shiro Amano. It was a nice line. And for those that don't know, in the KH1 manga and the KH:CoM manga, Amano-san was inconsistent with what type of room Riku had when he stayed with Maleficent. In the first, he stayed in a jail cell of sorts. In the second, he had a huge room with a bunch of books. That's actually what inspired my idea on where the Princesses were kept and where Althea and Riku lived.

Mog Blanc Hurgy Actual names of moogles, I believe they were from Final Fantasy Tactics, FFT Advance, and FF6. Hurgy is the girl.

The brooding Squall "Leon" Leonhart, about 22, maybe even 23 years of age. Near the bed are the three remaining figures. Leaning on a wall near the bed is a 42-year old blonde man with short hair with goggles on his head and a toothpick in his mouth, clad in a white shirt and blue pants. The Gummi Ship expert Cid Highwind. On the bed sit the two girls; sixteen year old Yuffie and a brunette girl dressed in pink with green eyes the same age, maybe a little older than Leon named Aerith Gainsborough, the Flower Girl. I read somewhere that in KH, the FF7 characters kept their original ages whereas Leon was aged up a little to be about the same age as Cloud. And unless my memory is poor, Cloud was in his early twenties and that Aerith was a little older than him. I also remember reading somewhere that Cid was 42 during KH1, so he's 42 here as well.

**Chapter 9**

Aurora and Cinderella exchange looks before Aurora smiles at me and speaks. "You don't have to worry about that, yet. Now, _sleep._" I am convinced these two Princesses knew a lot more than it appeared in game. I am also convinced that they would need a spell to make people forget little things that they accidentally let slip. And since, despite what studies say, people hardly ever seem to remember what happened minutes before they went to sleep, I gave them a sleeping spell. It's also kinda ironic that Sleeping Beauty cast a sleeping spell. And these so-called innocent princesses are secretly quite devious! I tell you, they've been plotting behind all of our back since BbS, we just don't know what they're plotting yet...

**Chapter 10**

I thought only a prince could marry a princess, or a handsome youth that the king, or in this case Sultan, makes an exception for after said youth saves said princess and they fall hopelessly in love with each other. Last I checked, you weren't either, just an advisor so how are you gonna convince this princess to marry you? This always happens! It's a tad ridiculous that most stories we read about a prince or princess has this theme. One day, I'd like to see an honest to goodness story about a royal and a peasant that _don't_ fall in love while the peasant saves the royal. Or how about the other way around? The royal saves the peasant?

Hurry along now, Alanda, Rizu. "Prince Abubu," as Jafar eloquently calls Aladdin when he's faking being a prince. I figure Jafar gets a speech and memory impediment whenever he's around people he doesn't like.

He's apparently had little Abu retrieve some bread and is now helping the chunky guards get some exercise and burn off the calories gained from those roasted lizards and fruits they had for breakfast. Whenever the guards slow down, Aladdin stops by some of his sympathizers and exchanges small talk with them, especially the ladies. Now he's teaching the guards to walk on hot coals and now how to climb a rope suspended in midair and how to pole-vault properly. The guards fail the last lesson and they all fall into a large pile of manure while Aladdin lands in safety. My way of depicting my favorite scene from the Disney movie Aladdin. After writing down this description, I've actually come to mutter it while watching the movie. And people in that region, according to the TV show Cooking in the Dangerzone, actually eat roasted lizards. I've never had a roasted lizard, but I've had a cricket lollipop, pretty good. 

jinnīyah I use the proper term because I've always thought that a genie called Genie was really confusing.

Amani means Wish :3 Fitting I believe.

**Chapter 11**

She'd have my head! And I can't rule Agrabah without a head! Did any of you, while in Wonderland, go up to Alice while she was in her bird cage and repeatedly talk to her? For those that didn't, Alice eventually says something along the lines of, "If my head and body were separated, how ever would the food I eat get to my stomach?" Yeah, the characters say the strangest things.

Umm, Arise Sir Anthony Hopkins: The Biography; History of the World by some Roberts guy; and _Mein_ _Kampf_ by Adolf Hitler himself. ... Alright, one, never heard of Anthony Hopkins. Two, never read History of the World by a guy named Roberts, only by Andrews, this Ansem guy, and I know of a song sung by a character called Sweeney by that name. Three, could you say that last title again, Mine Camp? And four, who the hell's Adolf Hitler?" Those books are real, I can't remember how I decided to use them though. And when Riku says "only by Andrews, this Ansem guy, and I know of a song sung by a character called Sweeney," here are the following references he made. I can't remember Andrews, but I have a side-story still in the works with Ansem writing a report called, you guessed it, History of the World. And of course, any Tim Burton or Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham-Carter fan caught the last third reference. "The history of the world my love/ is those below serving those up above/ how gratifying for once to know/ that those above will serve those down below!" Excerpt from Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber on Fleet Street, Mrs. Lovett's parts were taken out of the excerpt.

Oh Hitler was a tyrant in gypsy-girl's home-universe. A nasty man, he started a _purification_ war to get rid of all Jews, Gypsies, and Catholics. But he only started it when he found one of the only djinn lamps in that universe, then he wasted all three of his wishes on ways to kill them. He wished for those gas-chambers you've heard so much about, hun. He wished for every person he captured to just go along with it. For them to be, uh, complacent about the whole thing. And finally, he wished that he would never have to see his empire fall And he never did see his empire fall, some say he suicided, others say assassination, either way, he died the day before he lost. At least he got all his wishes, though ;P

I'd actually say you're of Darkness-descent She said this jokingly, but you never know, it could be true. ;)

An-Ankokutai? You sure that's what your last name is? It's not anything else? Like Hikari hopefully? ... Right, well, do you know who your aunt is? Or how your mother got to Destiny Islands? Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. Hikari means Light as most KH fans know by now.

Kairi...Hidenka? Of Radiant Garden? Hidenka simply means Princess. In a rough draft of this story, Kairi's full name back on Radient Garden was Hi Denka (last name first), but then I remembered that her Granny called her Kairi. And of course, we know that Kairi knew nothing but her first name when she arrived at Destiny Islands, so no one knows her real last name.

**Chapter 12**

This little Shadow's eyes sometimes take a subtle green tint, particularly when there's water within twenty feet of him. He's a cowardly little fellow and is one of the Shadow's that mobbed Riku for chocolate a while back. Mizu! Myde! Demy! Demyx! XD Perhaps I should say now that in my story's universe, anyone that becomes a Heartless chooses their form when they initially become a Heartless. Demyx decided on a Shadow because it is easier for him to run away.

I wish that no matter what happens...I will never hurt Sora and Kairi with even the slightest intention of killing them ..._ Sorry Xehanort, but it looks like you won't be able to even fight Sora when you possess Riku later on_ Yes, so, technically a spoiler, but I should still say it. During the Rikunort stage, once the voice no longer doubles, Riku is barely hanging on anymore. It's not his intentions his body is listening to, so loophole's right there. He's connected by a thread by the time Rikunort fights Sora the first time. And Riku's been banished from his own body by the end of that scene. Technically, he's a Heartless when he meets Sora at the Door. And his body is destroyed when Sora defeats Xehanort's Heartless. The Dragon Pendant is temporarily lost.

"Yes, quite amazing. And not only that, but he is my nephew." How nonchalant of her. She discovers the boy she nearly had killed is her nephew and the true Keyblade Master and isn't dumbfounded and speechless.

Ten Items Or Less line A bit of a pun on my part.

**Chapter 13**

_'Cause that's a very weird thought, of course it's not as weird as the few stories I've heard where Maleficent was his actual mother or Sephiroth was his father or Ansem or a mixture of that._ For a moment, I had considered doing the same, be thankful I decided otherwise.

She sent me a message with a bottle somehow I think the whole message in a bottle reaching the right person thing actually uses some of a person's innate magical ability.

She asked that if the son survived that I care for him as my own Pfft! Like that would ever happen...*is shown the whole "you're like a son to me" scene and various Maleficent/Riku scenes in KH1 with the Japanese subs* O.O I think she actually tried to treat him as a son. And I'm serious, I'm not perfect at Japanese, but it seems to me that they were actually quite civil with each other, close even.

**Chapter 14**

First I appeared on a small island surrounded by other island, some of them having volcanoes. Looking around on the main island, I saw a strange small creature serving ice cream, another fixing hair, and another in the lighthouse. I soon found the necessary character chasing after another small creature, screaming "Trog!" I approached him when he was alone and made a deal. World: Lilo & Stitch, the animated series

A world with a mouse detective and his rival, Rattigan. World: The Great Mouse Detective, a movie

Another with toys that came to life and were their own persons (I couldn't find any truly bad people there besides the human Sid so I just left the Heartless to roam and do as they will). World: Toy Story 1

There was a world with bugs, where a colony of ants was being controlled by vicious grasshoppers. World: A Bug's Life, a movie

Another with little blue creatures called Smurfs. World: Whatever the TV show with the Smurfs was called, I get the feeling it was simply called Smurfs

A world with pastel animals that kill each other in their daily lives and yet somehow came back to life in the mornings as if nothing had happened. World: Happy Tree Friends, youtube it, now.

A darker toned world with gargoyle statues coming to life in New York City and just trying to survive. World: Gargoyles, the animated series

A world nearly identical to Earth only with a digital Earth existing alongside it and presently being ruled by a child emperor. World: Digimon Adventure 02, a TV show

Another dual-world, only this one has dead people living in an ancient Japan styled Earth with creatures called Hollows running amok. World: Bleach, before the Arrancar and before Aizen showed his true colors, a TV show

And the last world has a bunch of races like "Khajits" and "Imperials" and "Wood Elves" and a small town called Seyda Neen. World: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, a video game for Xbox and PC

The Jolly Roger Captain James Hook's pirate ship, also the name of the flag he flies under.

It means, _no tocar_, no touching, _ei kosketa_, _nici o ating_! Spanish, Japanese, and Finnish (I think, I can't remember, I just remember the language was European) were used here. But I know that the conjugations are wrong, so please don't use these words unless you know how to properly conjugate.

Idly, my mind brings up the image of Amelia Earhart, a determined traveler of the skies that disappeared in one of the many Triangles. Everyone knows the rumors, that there's some wormhole or something in the air over some places. That she flew through it and traveled through time and space... Originally, I wanted Earhart to actually have a cameo where she told Althea what happened to her and that neither of them are going back to their old world because they were meant to grow up in their world so that they could teach in their current one. But, I couldn't think of a well-known enough fictional work that had a character similar to her.

**Chapter 15**

It's already gone! The Heartless can't reach it from where it is now... Just Riku being dramatic and angsty and if you squint a lot, maybe even a little romantic (according to my BFF that knows nothing about KH)

**Chapter 16**

Riku's by my side wearing a plain black hooded cloak as a disguise. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. It begins...

Eric, did you get a look at the listing for the Pegasus Cup? To get the name Eric from Riku, first change chop off the U to get Rik. Then add a vowel to the beginning to get Erik. Then change the K to a C even though the K spelling is cooler.

He falls face down to the ground, adding dirt to his burns, and he pulls out a white cloth on a stick. He starts weakly waving it and the barrier around the arena is removed. Hercules finishes off the Pot Spiders and pulls the junior heroes to the side. How else could the matches have been handled when we would always die during the really hard matches? Or when we would skip Wonderland and Deep Jungle and try beating the Coliseum at level 5-10, sometimes even less?

**Chapter 17**

"You aren't teaching him, are you?" Yubaba cackles, "you know the consequences." After one too many betrayals, magical people agree that when there's one teacher, there should only be a maximum of one student at any given time. When it's a large group of people, they may each have a specific student to teach or they could have the whole group teach a few number. 

except for potions of the Vvardenfell variety Vvardenfell is the name of the continent in TES: Morrowind. In that game, making potions is very easy, minimum of two ingradients, maximum of four, use the proper tools and not soon after you have a potion or ten that could do anything short of turning into a vampire.

Agrabahian Fire Shield, Wonderland's Growing Potion and the accompanying Shrinking Potion, the Pixie's Flight Potion, and the Atlantean Burn Ointment I obviously made up everything but the Wonderland potions. But I think they might exist in some alternate form.

Wizarding World Once again, Harry Potter reference, I love those books. And should Althea ever go to that world, the name provided will be the actual name given to it.

I point to a dark spot in the corner where a curious Shadow had been watching ever since I first cast the Fire spell on the candle. I noticed him when I suddenly saw yellow-orange eyes that seemed more vibrant than a regular Shadow's. Lea makes an appearance! Kinda, sorta, maybe. Lea chose the form of a Shadow because it would be easier for him to get away if he ever blows something up.

Fairy Godmoose. ... I pull out Night's Edge and point at the plushie, fun spells first I always say. "_Animate!_ This was an obvious shout-out to Fairy Godmoose, the author of the Cheat Code trilogy on this site. Yes, I know, shameless advertising, but she doesn't know I'm advertising her epic story. ;)

"Be nice now, _calm!_" The rat stops struggling immediately In TES: Morrowind, there are two base spells for a calming presence. One is Calm Humanoid, the other is Calm Creature.

Stop in Middle-Earth and I will teach you destruction spells, especially the infamous Meteor. Every since Sephiroth, there's never been a Magician of Darkness with enough power or drive to learn this spell. I am convinced Saruman knows this spell and taught it to KH's version of Sephiroth. He's a Magician of Darkness if ever there was one. Magician in this sense meaning that he doesn't always use magic.

My transportation spells can cross universes if necessary to find the target." She winks, I blink, Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. 

One Shadow has twinkling yellow-green eyes. The other has yellow-orange eyes. Myde and Lea.

The Nocturnes steadily grow bigger as they absorb the heat and their coloration starts changing I can't remember right now, but I think it was the Crimson Jazzes that threw humongous fireballs. As my theory goes, Heartless can only change their shape again after the initial transformation when surrounded by their element.

**Chapter 18**

"They want you to wish for the ability to speak to Heartless." For those not keeping track, that's two wishes for Althea and two for Riku. Wondering what the last wishes will be? Well then stay tuned :)

It's usually much quieter than this. Unless of course Myde is practicing his singing. And he's almost always practicing, except when Ienzo's knocked him out or he's eating or something has caught his attention.

"Holy he-" Creative Curse Interruption! Actually, calls it Curse Cut Short.

You like games don't you? I propose we play... tag, I'll be the chaser, try not to let me win too quickly Egotistical maniac. Slightly Jigsaw inspired. Oh! And the old name we all used to call Ven, Terra, and Aqua. :) 

You must be one of the Queens or Princesses. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. _Why_ does she need to be?

"But you can't be the Black Princess, she's supposed to come from the shadows of this universe Hint, hint, nudge, nudge.

he looked like the boy Terra talked about, so he's the new Keyblade Master, right? Why was Riku stupid? Because everyone is stupid at times. Oh, and even though I know about BbS, please remember that this story came into creation when only rumors and rough translations existed for the game, so Althea had absolutely no clue who Aqua is or Terra or how the succession of Keyblades work. Another reason why I'm switching to 3rd person POV for the sequel.

It will probably take Sora three hours to get up here and fight Rikunort. Then maybe another 20 minutes, maybe 30, until Roxas and Naminé are 'born' Less Heartless will follow them after that, so they'll take an hour and a half max to get down to the Library. I will admit that the times given were how long it took me to originally get through Hollow Bastion. Please don't ask why it took so long to get down to the Library when Sora was a little Heartless.

**Chapter 19**

According to a loose page I found from Ansem the Wise's Journal, he was tired of the Heartless barging in during Mass or looking over his shoulder in the library or watching him in the bathroom, that he created a spell to keep the Heartless out of the room designated in the spell unless there was an emergency or he called a few in for whatever reason. I made this up! I figured it was a possible explanation for why the save points were pretty much only there. Let's call this mystery spell, the Safe Point spell ;P

Father? Ansem the Wise is your father? Kairi's your sister?" … And Kairi was always with Grandmama or Yuffie and wasn't interested in studying the Heartless. Kairi was in the castle library with her Grandma, everyone knows that. There is never a mention of any princes or princesses or dukes or duchesses or vicomtes or counts or countesses. So let's assume Ansem the Wise was an only child and that his parents still lived in the castle with him. Well we only ever see one old person (besides Vexen XD) and that person is Kairi's grandmother. Yes, we can assume that he was a kindly man that let people visit his castle all the time...oh, wait, he had guards standing out front to make sure no one got in. Possibly to protect his research, but maybe also to protect his parents, children, and wife. Like I said, only one old person. And I'm pretty sure Ansem's wife wouldn't allow their adopted son Ienzo to take part in his research. In fact, why did he adopt Ienzo anyways? Yes, he had no family anymore, but why Ansem and not Cid and Shera? Maybe he already had a child and couldn't have any more for whatever reason and wanted his child to have a sibling? Maybe he started research on the Heart as a means of reviving a dead wife? And I mentioned Yuffie because in my original drafts for this story, Ienzo and her were brother and sister. I like the idea of an Illusionist and a ninja being siblings. I think, I'll officially make it so in the sequel, but for now, Yuffie is just a person a year older than Kairi that she played with.

"_I was a singer, surfer, and Elvis-lover on one of the Earths, I lived in Hawaii and that blue thing you occasionally see in the castle is Stitch, he comes from my world._ This seems likely, no? And I didn't give him an age because I haven't decided yet.

_I'm a pyro, love frisbees, lived in this place all my life, and I'm 25 this year._ He seemed 15 in BbS.

His name is Princess Leia When I first saw Axel's Original's name, I pronounced it Leia. Shows how much of a Star Wars fan I am huh? After that, and being corrected, I can't bring myself to call him Lea without eventually saying Princess Leia.

**Sequel Allusions...just kidding! You won't know any of these until the sequel is out :P Remember the Working name is Finding Twilit Paths, FTP for short  
**


	22. Oi! Sequel is out

Okay, so, I'm not seeing much activity over at the sequel of this so I decided to update it saying the sequel has started being posted.


End file.
